Formation of the political elite in Donbas before 2014 as part of Ukraine: general context and background

   Introduction. The process of formation of political elites in post-Soviet states has a number of common features. At the same time, there are also specifics determined by the history, culture of a particular territory, as well as the situation developed at the time of the collapse of the USSR. The common features of the formation of the elites are: active participation of the party and Soviet bureaucracy. However, there were already significant differences between the Russian situation and the situation in Ukraine. The Russian elite initially perceived themselves as the successors of the "old elite", and the Russian Federation was perceived not only by the elite, but also by the population of the country, as the renewed Soviet Union. Accordingly, the problem of self-awareness was not as acute as in other post-Soviet countries, where it was necessary to build a new political nation.

   Purpose. The analysis of the formation and transformation of elites in Donbas, the study of the causes of the deep structural crisis that led to the conflict in Ukraine.

   Materials and methods. General scientific and special research methods have been used in the work, including analysis, synthesis, an integrated system approach, comparison, and generalization. In the course of the work, methods of retrospective and logical analysis were used. In the course of the research, the authors relied on a set of scientific methods of cognition: observation, survey, comparison and generalization. The research is based on the provisions on the recruitment of the political elite, its formation, functions and role. The empirical basis of the research have been made up of scientific publications, the an authors own sociological research into the role of the political elite on the historical territories of the Russian Federation.

   Results. The article examines the formation and transformation of elites on the post-Soviet area with a focus on Ukraine and, in particular, the Donets Basin. The main conclusion is that the key split that determined the further development of the political situation in Ukraine was not only the conflict between pro-Russian and pro-European vectors, but also a deep internal contradiction between different types of elites and regional identities inherited from Soviet times.

   Conclusions. The research conducted shows that the conflict in Ukraine is not just a geopolitical choice between the West and the East. At is a consequence of a deep structural crisis caused by the following factors: the heterogeneity of political and economic elites; the unrealized project of pan-Ukrainian nation building; the formation of an oligarchic state; a value gap between different regions of Ukraine.

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