Lecture by David Lewis, Department of Politics, University of Exeter Russia now occupies almost one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. Quite little is known though about its actual post-2022 day-to-day rule and its occupation policies in these areas besides Crimea. In this talk, held on the occasion of the publishing of his book on the subject, professor David Lewis of the University of Exeter will explain how Russia seeks to subjugate and ‘re-format’ the occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces through a mixture of violent repression, political engineering, collaborationism, economic coercion and propaganda. Lewis will elaborate on how Moscow attempts to create an ‘ersatz Novorossiya’ in areas where about half of the pre-war population fled to Western and Central Europe, Russia or non-occupied Ukraine, and where the remainders, though mostly hostile to the occupiers, face uncomfortable daily choices to survive under occupation. This event is organized by the Centre for Russian International Socio-Political and Economic Studies (CERISE) and the Conflict Research Group (CRG) of Ghent University. Admission is free but registration is required.

The Groningen Institute for Central and Eastern European Studies (GICEES) would like to cordially invite you to attend an engaging and thought-provoking conference.

Abkhaz, Armenians, Azerbaijani and Georgians have long co-existed in a region framed as the South Caucasus. These different ethnic categories result from socio-political constructions that are rarely questioned. Playing a pivotal role in the wars that have unfolded in the region, ethnic categorization is particularly central in shaping current antagonizations. Since the late 1980s, the coexistence of differently ethnicised populations in the South Caucasus has been deeply challenged by a series of conflicts, wars and pogroms. Since 24 February 2022, the co-existence of Abkhaz, Armenians, Azerbaijani and Georgians has been unfolding against the backdrop of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, bringing an additional layer of complexity.