CONFLICT IN EASTERN UKRAINE AND ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL PECULIARITIES

The conflict that has been flaming up since 2014 in the East of Ukraine is a real multi-faceted war between Russia and Ukraine. It is also called the Anti-terrorist operation (ATO), Joint forces operation or “hybrid” war, as in Ukraine at the legislative level it has not been acknowledged as a war. When a war is defined as “hybrid” it is suggested that it is not a full-scale intervention of the Russian Federation and thus it is easier for many politician to justify their inactivity; just crossing the Ukrainian border, Russian forces take off chevrons and other identification marks. The West take advantage of this, pretending to be doubtful and, herewith, its reaction is reasonably less determined; and it vivifies “conspiracy theories” as to Putin’s probable allies. Legislative ambiguity generates not only enhancement of military threat, but also different psychological insinuation, which affect the conscious state of the Ukrainian society.