Civil Society in Conflict-Ridden Countries: The Case of Ukraine’s Military Volunteers A Dissertation Submitted to the University of Tsukuba in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Sciences Roksolana LAVRINENKO 2020 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my main academic advisor Prof. Timur Dadabaev for his encouragement, support, and inspiration from the first day of my studies. Big thanks to Prof. Leslie Tkach-Kawasaki and Prof. Akifumi Shioya for their valuable comments and supervision during the whole writing process of the thesis. I am very grateful to Prof. Nathan Gilbert Quimpo, who supported me with the advice, literature, and genuine interest in my research. My special gratitude goes to Honjo International Scholarship Foundation for selecting me as a scholarship recipient, thus enabling me to continue my studies and welcoming me to the family of international scholars. I also want to thank my friends here at the University of Tsukuba for the company during sleepless nights in the study room, hot educational debates, and unconventional willingness to help. This study would not have been possible without the research respondents, Ukrainian military volunteers, who entrusted me to share their stories. Above all, I would like to say thank you to my parents Vadym and Oksana for their support and love. Mom and Dad, I would not be able to do this without you. ii ABSTRACT The ongoing armed conflict in the Eastern Ukraine, that started in 2014, has involved various non-state actors. This research explores the roles civil society organizations play in the conflict environment. The object of the study is Ukrainian military volunteer groups, formal and informal civil society organizations, that provide supplies to the Ukrainian armed forces. Initially, due the state’s lack warfare preparation, the Ukrainian military volunteer movement emerged as a rapid response to the needs of paramilitary and regular armed forces, undertaking the conventional security function of the state. Within the several years of a protracted conflict, military volunteers continue to assist the armed forces with material provisions, despite decreased urgency for the supplies. This study aims to explore the narrative of the military volunteers, as a non-state actor that continues to be involved in the conflict dynamics. First, I examine whether the activities of the volunteers have undergone any changes, and if so, how their work has transformed. Then, the relations between volunteers and other actors involved in the conflict are analyzed. Lastly, I explore the motivations of military volunteers to continue their work. Supply provision to the armed forces is not considered to be a conventional civil society role in the conflict, as opposed to peacebuilding initiatives. The study seeks to expand the existing theoretical and empirical knowledge on the capacity of civil society in the context of a protracted armed conflict by providing insights on how Ukrainian military volunteers organize their activities. Key words: civil society, non-state actor, armed conflict, Ukraine, Donbas war. iii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................ ii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. viii INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK....................................................................... 12 1.1.Concept of volunteering ................................................................................................. 12 1.2.Traditional definitions of civil society ........................................................................... 17 1.3. Contemporary definitions of civil society..................................................................... 18 1.4. Civil society and the state ............................................................................................. 19 1.5. Functions of civil society .............................................................................................. 21 1.6.Civil society in the conflict ............................................................................................ 22 CHAPTER II. METHODOLOGY........................................................................................... 31 2.1. Data collection .............................................................................................................. 31 2.2. Thematic analysis.......................................................................................................... 36 2.3. Challenges ..................................................................................................................... 38 2.4. Research Limitations .................................................................................................... 39 2.5. Ethics of the research .................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER III DELAYERING THE UKRAININAN CRISIS ............................................... 43 3.1. Historical narratives and myths .................................................................................... 43 3.2. Understanding the Crimea dispute ................................................................................ 49 3.3. “Russian World” vs. Ukrainian National Revival 2.0 .................................................. 55 3.4. Gaining perspectives on the Ukrainian crisis................................................................ 61 CHAPTER IV ORIGIN OF MILITARY VOLUNTEERS IN UKRAINE ............................. 68 4.1. Euromaidan and the Crimea dispute ............................................................................. 68 4.2. First separatists’ protests ............................................................................................... 72 4.3. Outline of the conflict ................................................................................................... 72 4.4. Role of Russia in the conflict ........................................................................................ 75 4.5. Ukrainian volunteer battalions and military volunteers ................................................ 77 CHAPTER V MILITARY VOLUNTEERS AS PART OF CIVIL SOCIETY ....................... 84 5.1. Modern Ukrainian civil society .................................................................................... 85 5.2. Military volunteer movement in Ukraine ..................................................................... 91 iv CHAPTER VI MAIN FEATURES OF UKRAINIAN MILITARY VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT ........................................................................................................................ 100 6.1. Roles of military volunteers in the Ukrainian conflict ................................................ 101 6.2. Military volunteers and other actors ........................................................................... 127 6.3. Motivations of military volunteers.............................................................................. 136 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................... 145 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 149 APPENDICES ....................................................................................................................... 166 Appendix A. Interview questions (English and Ukrainian language versions) ................. 166 Appendix B. Interviewed organizations with basic information ....................................... 168 Appendix C. Interview transcripts (samples)..................................................................... 170 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS DNR Donetsk People’s Republic (Donestkaya Narodnaya Respublika) LNR Lugansk People’s Republic (Luganskaya Narodnaya Respublika) EU European Union CIS Commonwealth of Independent States ATO Anti-Terrorist Operation OSCE Organization of Security and Co-Operation in Europe OOC Joint Forces Operation (Operaciya Obyednanyh Syl) IDPs Internal Displayed People NGO Non-governmental organization OUN Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists CSO Civil society organizations vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of recorded ceasefire violations (OSCE, 2020), p. 73 Figure 2. Inside the office of the “Myr I Ko” fund (photo taken by the author), p.109 Figure 3. After the interview with the informal civil society group “Maskuvalna Sitka”, Summer 2018. The group is making masking nets for tanks and soldiers (photo taken by the author), p. 110 Figure 4. Supplies delivered to the 1st line of the conflict zone by Naumovska volunteer group, Summer 2018 (photo taken by the author), p. 118 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Types of Civil Society Organizations in Armed Conflict (Marchetti