THE IMPACT OF THE WAR ON THE STATE OF MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN ETHNIC GROUPS IN MULTINATIONAL COMMUNITIES

The article presents the results of a number of sociological studies aimed at examining the impact of the war on social cohesion, civic activism, and the consolidation of efforts in multinational communities in Ukraine. The research covered important issues of interethnic interaction and consolidation of the multicultural Melitopol community, and the expansion of effective channels of mutual assistance for members of ethnic communities in the context of the Russian aggression and temporary occupation, as well as an assessment of factors that may affect conflicts in communities during the war. As part of the study ‘Ethnic Communities and Commonality: The Key to Civic Engagement and Trust’, three focus group discussions were held, with a total of 72 participants; and a questionnaire survey was conducted with 1,500 respondents, representatives of ethnic communities in Melitopol, who found themselves in difficult living conditions caused by the war and at the time of the survey either remained in the occupied territories, moved to the government-controlled territory, or went abroad. The following respondent groups provided answers to the question about factors of the influence of the war and territorial community cohesion: members of ethnic communities of the Melitopol region who remained in the occupied territory; those who moved to the territory controlled by Ukraine (IDPs); those who moved abroad (forced migrants) named the main problems of interethnic understanding, as the study emphasises the importance of interethnic understanding and demonstrates the urgency of addressing issues related to the living conditions of Ukrainian citizens in multinational communities during the war and the postwar future. The findings require close attention and responses from both the government and civil society, in order to ensure positive community development, and to preserve social harmony in the postwar period.