This article is dedicated to the publications of the Russian legal scholars on the annexation of Crimea in 2014 or, according to the Russian version of the events “Crimea’s reunification with Russia.” Based on the factual circumstances of the case and the norms of Ukrainian constitutional law and international law, as well as modern approaches in international legal doctrine, the article analyses the key arguments of the Russian authorities and its legal scholarship, namely the following: 1) Russia’s use of force against Ukraine was necessary to defend Russian nationals and compatriots; 2) Russia’s use of force against Ukraine was a lawful response to the request for assistance by the legitimate leaders of Ukraine (V. Yanukovych) and Crimea (S. Aksyonov); 3) the events in Crimea were a secession, with the subsequent accession of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation as an independent state; 4) Ukraine disregarded the principle of the equality and self-determination of peoples vis-à-vis the residents of Crimea, therefore, Crimeans had the right to secede; 5) Crimea is historically Russian; 6) Ukraine had been exercising peaceful annexation of the peninsula since 1991, and Russia did not object to this (subject to certain conditions, which Ukraine violated in 2014); 7) the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 was illegal. This article evaluates whether these claims hold any weight under international law. In addition the general trends in contemporary Russian approaches to international law are outlined and their effects on its foreign policy are examined.

In light of international law, the incorporation of the Crimean Peninsula (Crimea), which forms part of Ukraine’s territory, into the Russian Federation qualifies as annexation, i.e. the illegal acquisition of the territory of another state by the threat or use of force. In this respect, Crimea remains an occupied territory under international law. The annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation has violated many treaties and fundamental principles of international law, namely the principle of territorial integrity of states, non-intervention into the domestic affairs of another state, and the prohibition of the threat or use of force against another state. Consequently, the Russian Federation has violated Ukraine’s rights which enjoy international protection. Moreover, due to the special legal status of the principles of international law that have been violated, the Russian Federation has breached its commitments under law to the entire international community. This community has an international legal obligation not to recognize the illegal situation created by the illegal use of force in the form of armed aggression, and its consequences.

The article examines the theoretical discussions on the dualism of “form” and “content” in literature and art that took place in Soviet Ukraine in the mid-1920s. The subject is considered in the context of the development of two competitive approaches of study of literature and art — Russian formalism and Marxism. The problem is observed through the comparison of ethical and ideological positions of the modernists and Marxists in Russia and Ukraine in the 1920s.

The annexation of Crimea and military operations that began in eastern Ukraine in April 2014 were the cause of the growing threat to Ukraine’s energy security. In terms of coal supplies, Donbass is of key importance for the country’s economy. Despite military operations on the east, illegal trade with the occupied territories was flourishing. This situation led to an increase in dissatisfaction amid certain social strata, as well as among volunteer battalions participants who took part in the military operations in Donbass and were the initiators of the Donbass blockade. The main purpose of the study to analyse the specific of the development of coal industry in Ukraine and the main reasons of the blockade of Donbass and its consequences.

Paradoxically, Europe is now more secure than it was before the war in Ukraine, although challenges still abound.

The Polish language is slowly disappearing among the Polish community in Ukraine’s Rivne Oblast. This is due to the influence of the clergy and the emigration of the younger generation.

Yezupil is the first Middle Palaeolithic site discovered in upper part of the Dnister River valley. It is situated in a set of sediments composed of loess and fossil soils lying on alluvia. The results of geological and palaeopedological investigations are presented. They contain lithological and geochemical analyses (main components and trace elements), as well as micromorphological study. Palaeo- and petromagnetic record is presented too. Horohiv pedocomplex developed from the older, Wartanian loess. It is composed of luvisol originated during the Eemian Interglacial and chernozem soil - during the Early Vistulian interstadials. An subarctic brown Dubno soil dated to the Interplenivistulian (Middle Vistulian interstadials) separates two parts of the younger loess. Older assemblage of Middle Palaeolithic-Mousterian culture with Levalloisian technique was found in the E horizon of the luvisol and therefore it could be dated to the Eemian Interglacial. Younger Middle Palaeolithic-Micequian- type materials were situated in partially redeposited by solifluction, Early Vistulian chernozem. Scanty and uncharacteristic Upper Palaeolithic assemblage was found in interstadiał Dubno palaeosol

The article is dedicated to the analysis of ideologically meaningful proper names, mainly oikonyms, and also to the indication and description of the three main tendencies noticed in Ukrainian oikonyms from the end of 1989 until 2016, during the social and political transformations in Ukraine and the decommunization processes connected with it. Using examples, the authors illustrate the phenomenon of korenizatsiya (nativisation), namely the recovery of historical names from before sovietisation, allusiveness, ensuring a neutral nature for names by referring to objects outside the area of politics and ideology, as well as glorification, the honoring and memorializing of events, heroes, and symbols connected with the past and modern history of Ukraine.

This study examines the impact of monetary policy on economic growth in Ukraine between 2006 and 2019. After the stationarity and co-integration tests, a vector- autoregressive model (VAM) was used to estimate the impact of monetary factors on economic growth in Ukraine. The research results show that GDP changes are largely explained by its own earlier dynamics, but in the long-run real GDP quite strongly depends on the money supply, exchange rate against euro, and basic interest rate. At the same time GDP is weakly dependent on the exchange rate against US dollar, CPI and PPI, the volume of loans to business and external debt. The authors explain their findings and compare them with several other empirical studies on the subject concerning some other countries.

Pollen and palcopedological studies have been carried out in parallel for the Stari Bezradychy sequence of the Upper Pleistocene age. The paleoenvironmental information derived from both sets of data is in general well correlated. The section presents a rather complete sequence of the last interglacial-glacial cycle. It includes eight units of the Ukrainian Stratigraphical Framework of the Pleistocene. Interglacial climatic optimum is registered by pollen succession of the Mikulino (Ecmian) type in the climax forest palcosols of Pryluky-Kaydaky pedocomplcx at the base of the sequence, above the Dnieper Glacial deposits. The coldest and most continental environment is recorded in the youngest loess. The soils of Upper Pryluky, Yytachiv and Dofinivka units are correlated with the Early Glacial and four Plcniglacial interstadials. Multiple environmental variations during the Upper Pleistocene recorded in the Stari Bezradychy sequence arc important for study of global climatic changes and interregional correlation. Tentative correlation with marine isotopic stages is proposed.

One of the direct results of the collapse of the former USSR was the emergence of centrifugal ethnic minority nationalisms, which posed a threat to the stability of the then newly-established (or restored in the case of the Baltic democracies) states. In this context, one of the mechanisms introduced by the leading elites in several countries (e.g. Latvia, Ukraine, Estonia, the Russian Federation) in order to address the minority diversity issue, ensure stability, and gain international support (in the case of the Baltic states) was a cultural autonomy scheme, which has its origins in the ideas of the late 19th century Austro-Marxist school of thought. This model was successfully implemented once in the past, in inter-war Estonia. However, its modern application, even in cases when it does not just remain on paper (such as in Latvia and Ukraine), seems to serve other motives (e.g. a restitutional framework in Estonia, control of the non-titular minority elites in Russia) rather than the satisfaction of minority cultural needs, thus making cultural autonomy a dead letter.

On 11 March 2014 Crimea declared independence. Ukraine and international society has not recognised that act. However Crimea’s independence was recognised by Russia and on 18 March 2014 an agreement on the accession of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation was signed. Many countries and international organisations have condemned that step, viewing it as illegal annexation. Regardless of how this situation is treated however, it is at present a fait accompli. Such a situation evokes legal consequences both in the internal law of Ukraine and Russia as well as on the plane of international law. The residents of Crimea appear to be in the worst situation. Legal certainty is a fiction for them now. There are also problems on the international plane. Despite the fact that in the opinion of international society Crimea remains an integral part of Ukraine, in practice there are many conflicting problems of a legal nature that cannot be solved, at least for the time being. This article analyses the legality and certain legal consequences of the “accession” of Crimea to Russia and the effect of this accession on the legal situation for residents of Crimea. The article concludes that legal situation of Crimeans will not improve anytime soon, and that the legal problems which have arisen on the international plane will not be resolved soon either.

The decapod fauna from the Badenian (middle Miocene) deposits of western Ukraine comprises in total 31 taxa: 20 species, 9 taxa left in open nomenclature, and 2 determined at family level. Thirteen of these taxa are reported for the first time from the territory of Ukraine. Among them are the first records of Trapezia glaessneri Müller, 1976 in the Fore-Carpathian Basin and Pachycheles sp. in Paratethys. One taxon (Petrolisthes sp. A) probably represents a new species. The occurrence of this significant decapod fauna is restricted almost exclusively to the Upper Badenian (i.e., early Serravallian) coralgal reefs of the Ternopil Beds. The taxonomic composition of the decapods indicates that the Late Badenian depositional environment was a shallow marine basin dominated by reefs that developed in warm-to-tropical waters of oceanic salinity. The decapod assemblage from the Ternopil Beds is similar in its taxonomic composition to numerous decapod faunules from fossil reefs of Eocene to Miocene age from the Mediterranean realm and of Miocene age from Paratethys. In contrast, decapod remains are very scarce in Badenian siliciclastic deposits (Mikolaiv Beds) and are represented by the most resistant skeletal elements, i.e., dactyli and fixed fingers. This scarcity was caused by the high-energy environment, with frequent episodes of redeposition, which disintegrated and abraded the decapod remains.

An activist of two big traditions. Skaryna and Ukraine Scholarly research of Francysk Skaryna legacy has been initiated by J.V. Bacmejster in 1776 and V.S. Sopikow in 1813. Further research conducted in the XX century by Alexander Bilecki, Pavel Popov, Yaroslav Isayevich, U. Anichenko and contemporary studies of Halyna Kovalchuk, Alexandr Nauvov, Mariola Walczak-Mikolajczak and others demonstrate how important were Skaryna’s activities on the border of two big traditions. In this context it’s worth to focus on a topic “Skaryna and Ukraine” in all its depth: biographical, publishing, polygraphic, academic, bibliographical. Ukrainian episode in Skaryna’s life and his birth town of Polotsk is related to the cult of Saint Euphrosyne of Polotsk who established the fi rst female monastery and is considered a patron of female monasticism of Rus. Polygraphic context of Skaryna’s activities is tied to Western Europe. Upon the receipt of a doctorate in medicine at the University of Padua he visited Venice – one of the most prominent centers of printing and publishing including Slavic, Greek and Hebrew texts where he also mastered modern printing techniques. In Prague Skaryna used two color printing technique to publish The Song of Songs and print the title page of Biblia Ruska. In Vilnius two color printing technique has been applied to print fi ve chapters of the Bible and just one title page of Psalter.

The relationship between science and religion, particularly their assumed conflict, has traditionally been discussed in terms of their factual or logical contradictions. The article proposes to change this perspective and to consider them both as sources of images in order to show their powerful interaction in the sphere of the imaginary. It also emphasizes that the historical and cultural context of their interaction is highly important. Based on the 66 in-depth interviews with the (post)Soviet generations of Ukrainian and Lithuanian scientists, the article reconstructs their imaginary of the Divine. Most of them have not retained their Christian belief. Instead, they created an alternative, science-related imaginary that integrated science and religion rather than put the two in conflict. The research provides evidence that the Soviet culture aimed at eradicating religion has in fact planted a seed of a religious sensibility and imaginary that was hidden under the guise of science and that has been persisting through generations.

In this article, I present a proposal for an international law-based formula for mediating territorial conflicts and apply it to the case of Crimea in Ukraine. Although the tragic Russian attack which commenced on 24 February 2022 has made the mediation even more difficult, once a ceasefire is achieved my formula is capable of providing legally solid compromises to the Ukrainian territorial questions that fit into the contemporary international legal framework concerning territory. Naturally, any realistic solution will require concessions on the part of all stakeholders (primarily Crimea, Ukraine, and Russia). In short, the formula offers for Ukraine the return of its territorial integrity, for Crimea internal self-determination in the form of a meaningful territorial autonomy, and for Russia a few indirect perks and guarantees, mostly related to a possible demilitarization of the Crimean Peninsula. The analysis can also be useful for Donbas, for which the formula offers recognition of some limited autonomous rights.

The natural gas supply is used from Russia Federation as a political instrument in the geopolitical and territorial conflict with Ukraine. The effectiveness of Russian strategy towards Ukraine is due to the fact that power in Kiev is also exercised by the pro-Russian politicians and supported on the part of Ukrainian oligarchs. The two countries are interdependent in terms of energy by means of the existing gas infrastructure and long-term contracts, because Ukraine guarantees the Russian Federation the transit of natural gas to Europe through its system of transmission gas pipelines, and Russia pays for the transit and used to supply the agreed amount of gas to Ukraine. For the first time – in 2016 – Ukraine didn’t import natural gas directly from the Russia Federation. This article attempts to obtain an answer to the research question, whether Ukraine actually strives to diversify its natural gas supply. What part of this policy is the Ukrainian political instrument in terms of Russia, and what part is the real political objective? Especially in the context of the gas contract between both States, ending in 2019. What role will be played the underground gas storage in the geopolitical struggle? Despite Nord Stream II the Russian Federation still needs the Ukrainian pipelines to fulfill contractual obligations in gas supplies to Europe. What are the strategic goals of the energy policy of Ukraine and Russia? The geopolitical as well as geo-economic theories will be applied. Moreover, a factor analysis as well as a decision-making analysis will be used. The political analysis method and the forecasting technique are applied to obtain, not only theoretical, but also practical input.

As recent studies showed, the post-communist countries have relatively the highest level of energy poverty in Europe. The poorest of them still are not explored. So, the authors decided to study this problem for Ukraine as one of the largest and poorest post-communist countries in Europe. This Eastern European country experienced a number of challenges before the pandemic, including a war with Russia in the east of the country, high external debt, high energy intensity and low added value of the economy. The purpose of this study is to measure how deep the energy poverty problem in Ukraine is and how it changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applying selected quantitative and financial indicators, the authors showed the problem of energy poverty in Ukraine remained acute at the beginning of 2020, especially in terms of heating. Moreover, its level in Ukraine was three times higher than the average level for the all the EU countries. Furthermore, in 2020, during the pandemic, there were drastic increasing arrears of households on utility bills that meant a new leap of energy poverty in Ukraine. This study did not search for the causes of the identified leap in energy poverty, which apparently connected with the global and local economic and social consequences of the pandemic. However, it revealed the depth of this problem and the lower impact of the nature factor (air temperature) on energy poverty during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Further research is required to identify the underlying drivers and develop possible solutions to this problem in Ukraine and other European countries suffering from high energy poverty.

Scientists are focusing on the introduction of various types of renewable energy sources and the liberalization of energy markets in the regions of the country. The problems of preventing the achievement of goals and various strategies to achieve maximum energy conservation and overcoming the current economic and environmental crisis in Ukraine also remain unresolved. We can observe the experience of the leading countries in the electricity sector, which proves that reforming the electricity sector in Ukraine is inevitable. This, in turn, is a critical factor in stimulating economic and social growth and improving the competitiveness of the regions of Ukraine. Given the above, the necessity for the study of the level of efficiency (competitiveness) and the functioning of the regional energy markets of Ukraine is obvious.
This study shows that the efficiency of electricity in the western region is relatively low due to the lack of competition, the presence of an ineffective system of subsidizing the population with cheap resources, the non-transparency of trade operations, excessive regulation of state generation, the lack of a “balanced” system of market functioning, etc.

This article focuses on the interrelationship between homeland and diaspora at times of crisis. It adopts a comparative lens to look into diasporic (dis)engagement with the homeland, specifically analysing the cases of Greece and Ukraine. The main research issues are how crises affect the engagement between homeland and diaspora – taking Greece and Ukraine as case studies – and which the defining contextual factors are that transform the diaspora engagement. The article unpacks the homeland–diaspora nexus concerning two states with different socio-political backgrounds, both going through severe political and economic crises. In so doing, the article gives prominence to the differentiation between the en-gagement of the two different diasporas with their home countries at times of crisis. Evidence suggests substantial engagement in the Ukrainian case while, in the Greek case, a more mixed attitude – leaning towards disengagement – is apparent.

The purpose of the research is to establish the total number of ponds in Ukraine and to analyse the territorial distribu-tion in the administrative areas, as well as in the river basin districts, as the main hydrographic units of water management. Cadastral data of the State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine regional offices as of 2019 was used in the research (as to Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions we applied the data as of 2014). According the researches there are 50,793 ponds in Ukraine with a total water table area of 2,92899 ha and the volume of 3,969.4 mln m3 of water in 2019. The quantitative distribution of ponds across Ukraine is unequal. Most of them are concentrated in the central part of the country (10.5% of the total number of ponds in the country are in Vinnytsia region). Least of them are in Luhansk region (0.7%). Almost half of the ponds are located in the Dnieper River Basin (48.5%). The lowest quantity of ponds is in the Black Sea Basin (1.2%). The regulation of river basins districts (the rivers of the Sea of Azov, Crimea and Black Sea Basins) reaches 0.71–0.77. As of 2019, 28% of the ponds are rented out. In order to identify the real status of the ponds (both quantitative and qualitative), their recreational role, the environmental impact and the regulation of the hydrographic network in Ukraine, it is necessary to increase the attention to ponds monitoring.

The article analyses the results of mass survey conducted in the framework of the project of the Volkswagen Foundation “Bi- and multilingualism between intensification of conflict and conflict resolution. Ethno-linguistic conflicts, language politics and contact situations in post-Soviet Ukraine and Russia”. Research’s aim was to understand to what extent the state language policy in the area of mass media and cultural sphere meet the expectations of the citizens of Ukraine. It underlines regionally marked attitude towards the strategy of language policy: the Western part of the country prefers Ukrainian language, South – Russian, and Center and North take intermediate positions.

The extinct arachnid order Trigonotarbida Petrunkevitch, 1949 is reported here for the first time from Ukraine. The material consists of an opisthosoma preserved in ventral view from the upper Carboniferous (lower Moscovian; Paralegoceras–Eowellerites ammonoid zone) of the Gorlivka locality in the Donets Basin, eastern Ukraine. Formal assignment to a family or genus is difficult, but the preserved ventral anatomy is consistent with a member of the families Aphantomartidae Petrunkevitch, 1945, Kreischeriidae Haase, 1890 or Eophrynidae Karsch, 1882. It is noteworthy for expanding the known distribution of trigonotarbids in Europe and is only the second Palaeozoic arachnid to be formally described from Ukraine; the other being the carapace of a whip scorpion (Thelyphonida Latreille, 1804) from Lomovatka in the Luhansk Region, also in the Donets Basin.