Article,
The Russia-Ukraine War and the Maidan in Ukraine
SSRN eLibrary, (2022)
DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.4246203
Abstract
This study examines the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022 and the origins of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the political transition during the Maidan in Ukraine in February 2014. This transition of power contributed to a start of the civil war in Donbas, Russian military interventions in Crimea and Donbas, the Russian annexation of Crimea and an international conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the West and Russia. This conflict escalated when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The research question is as follow: What is the nature of the Russia-Ukraine war and the political transition in Ukraine during the Maidan? This issue produced divergent narratives of this war and the Maidan in scholarly studies, the media, and governments in different countries. This paper uses political science theories of wars, mass protests, coups, revolutions, and regime changes and empirical analysis to examine the nature of the Russia-Ukraine war and the political transition in Ukraine during the Maidan. It analyzes videos and interviews and statements of key political actors involved in this war and the power transition, witness testimonies of various participants of the Russia-Ukraine war and the Maidan at the Yanukovych state treason trial and the Maidan massacre trial in Ukraine, and media publications in Ukrainian, Russian, and English. The study concludes with the analysis of the implications of its findings for understanding the conflicts in Ukraine and over Ukraine and their resolution.
