Ekatarina Mikhailova, Alina Mozolevska, Mela Žuljević, Sofia Gavrilova, Sabine von Löwis, Iaroslav Boretskii, Tim Wenzel
Introduction
In the context of conflict, existing signs and symbols tend to acquire new meanings (Kaschuba, 2000; Lambert, 2023). As has been shown elsewhere (see e.g., Kolstø, 2016; Luxmoore, 2019; Marandici, 2023), the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war has already had a major impact on both identities and symbols in the war-affected areas and beyond. This essay attempts to decipher the new meanings and functions that the map of Ukraine has acquired since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The essay argues that since 2014, and even more so since 2022, the map of Ukraine has become present in the everyday life of Ukrainian citizens in a new way. This change occurred due to maps of Ukraine being instrumentalised as an information envelope1 containing diverse messages sent by various actors to Ukrainian citizens, as well as from Ukrainian citizens to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and to the international community. To demonstrate this, the essay discusses a selection of maps produced and map-related activities carried out in Ukraine in 2022 and 2023.
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