When does separatism become a cover for foreign aggression? How do local communities respond when state institutions come under pressure and militants take over?

In his new book Seize the City, Undo the State (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2025), political scientist Serhiy Kudelia offers a detailed analysis of the initial stages of war eight years before the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. He traces the mobilisation dynamics in over a dozen towns in Donbas and the cities of Kharkiv and Odesa. Kudelia explains how a small group of Russian agents and local militants succeeded in neutralising state control over the largest and most densely urbanised region of Ukraine, but failed to do so elsewhere. The study also shows that in places where  members of local communities mobilised to resist militant takeovers, the separatist challenges  quickly dissipated.

Speaker

• Serhiy Kudelia is Associate Professor of Political Science at Baylor University, where he teaches courses on political regimes, state-building and political violence, and Ukrainian and Russian politics. His research has focused on the study of political institutions in Ukraine and the armed conflict in Donbas. He previously held teaching and research positions at the University of St. Andrews, the University of Basel, George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, and the National University ‘Kyiv-Mohyla Academy’ (Ukraine).
• Moderation: Gwendolyn Sasse, Director, Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS)

Registration

The book talk is organised by the Ukraine Research Network@ZOiS (UNET), a project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.