Navigating Myths of Origin and Territorial Legitimacy: Evidence from Ukraine

• In Event: Post-Soviet Politics of Patronage and Identity

Abstract

Myths of ethnic and national origin have played a key role in justifying claims to Ukrainian territory, with ethnic justifications utilizing ancestral clan and proto-state origins to help define a dominant ethnic core that represents Ukraine and its territory. At the same time, national based claims utilize ancestral clan origins and stories of a shared modern political history, culture, and ideology to help define a dominant national core that represents Ukraine and its territory. Relying on interviews and comparing national survey data from 2023 and 2025, this paper analyses the degree to which ethnic and national myths of origin converge to represent a singular community or diverge into distinct communities and the effect of the war in reshaping these myths of origin and their success in justifying claims to Ukrainian territory.

Author

• Scott Feinstein, Iowa State U