In early 2017, the war in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas intensified after a lull and regained a temporary media presence. However, the views of internally and externally displaced people remain hidden from view. By summer 2016, the Ukrainian Ministry for Social Policy had registered close to 1.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine. Since 2015, Ukraine has been among the ten countries with the largest IDP populations worldwide. Moreover, about another 1 million have fled from the conflict zone to Russia.
Their overall number, their territorial spread, and their extreme experiences make displaced people a group that the Ukrainian and Russian national and local governments—as well as the West—need to take into account. The displaced are politicized, though they do not form one cohesive political or social force. Many remain dependent on state or family support while remaining in close contact with the areas and people they left behind. They are also an extreme case to test identities shaped by war.
