The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the strengthening of Ukrainian identity among former Soviet immigrants from Ukraine: Israel as a case study

Abstract

This research examined the effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war on identity changes among educated Ukraine-born women who have lived their adult lives in Israel. The data, collected in July 2022, were determined to be representative of educated women aged 25–60 who emigrated from Ukraine during 1988–2018. Findings revealed a strengthened Ukrainian identity in over half of the respondents. The Ukrainian-born Israelis, who held a hybrid Russian-Israeli identity, strengthened their Ukrainian identity. However, this strengthening was not uniform. It was associated with (a) frequency of exposure to Ukrainian news and social media that support the Ukrainian government; (b) attitudes toward the Russian-Ukrainian war; (c) the presence of the war in daily life; and (d) the geo-political place of origin in Ukraine. The study underscores the importance of researching identity shifts in people indirectly affected by crises in today’s information-rich age.