Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS)

The Russian regime continues to pay lip service to the principle of cultural diversity in a multi-ethnic state. Yet recent state policies seem designed to oppress the country’s minorities. To avoid severe repressions, ethnic minorities have developed new forms of protest beyond classical political activism.

The war has sidelined the struggle for women's rights and gender equality in Ukraine. The population is also divided on gender issues. At the same time, Ukraine's struggle to find an identity based on ‘Western’ values is opening up new opportunities to advance feminist ideas.

Religion is another battlefield in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) has come under intense state pressure due to its perceived ties to Russia. A new ZOiS Report based on interviews with ordinary UOC members offers a more nuanced picture of the ‘Russian’ church in Ukraine.

How can societies remember difficult past events in a way that ‘forges a better peace in the future’? In ‘Ethics of Political Commemoration’ Hans Gutbrod and David Wood propose a new paradigm aimed at scholars and citizens alike. In our interview, Gutbrod draws on some examples from Ireland, Georgia and Armenia.

On 24 Feburary 2022, Russia began the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Our online dossier gathers relevant information in the form of videos, podcasts, publications and assessments of our experts in the media.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine made decoupling from Russia’s energy system more urgent than ever. A new report gives insights into the steps Eastern European countries have taken and shows how ordinary citizens play a crucial role in energy security.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a war of aggression that we condemn in the strongest possible terms. Against this background, we have decided to suspend all institutional cooperations between ZOiS and Russian state institutions. However, in the spirit of academic freedom, the academic partnerships our researchers have established with individual researchers in Russia will continue, as far as this is possible.