Everyday Resilience and Its Limits - Ukrainian Society after Four Years of Full-Scale War

Talk and discussion

On the occasion of the sad anniversary of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Prof. Dr. Mykhailo Minakov will share his observations of the state of Ukrainian society and the war and peace dynamics after four years of the most destructive war on the European continent since the Second World War.

Four years of war have transformed Ukrainian society in ways that both challenge and support our understanding of human resilience, solidarity, and the capacity to maintain ordinary life under extraordinary circumstances. This talk and discussion offers socio-philosophical reflections on how prolonged war reshapes not just political institutions and economic structures, but the very texture of daily existence— how people work, love, mourn, and imagine futures when the present demands everything.

Mykhailo Minakov is a Ukrainian philosopher and political scientist, currently a visiting professor at the European University Viadrina.

Co-Moderation:
Dr. Oksana Myshlovska and Dr. Cécile Druey, Institute of History/Eastern European Studies, University of Bern

This event is part of a series of activities planned around 24 February. Notably, we invite you to visit the photo exhibition “Unissued Diplomas”, organised in cooperation with the Ukrainian Society of the University of Bern, 17-27 February 2026.

Further Information and contact: cecile.druey@unibe.ch 
www.osteuropa-studien.ch
www.ukrainiansociety.unibe.ch