“Pravova derzhava”. Issue 36 (2025), pages 342–350.

DOI: 10.33663/0869-2491-2025-36-342-350

Yavir Vira
The Legal Dimension of Decolonization in Ukraine

Introduction. The relevance of studying the ethnopolitical process of decolonization in Ukraine is determined by a multitude of factors that require in-depth scientific analysis and reflection. This is essential for developing effective decolonization legislation and a coherent decolonization policy within the framework of Ukraine’s ethnopolitics.
The success of decolonization and the overcoming of Ukraine’s colonial dependence on Russia are critical for Ukraine’s ability to prevail in its existential war. The russification and Ukraine’s prolonged existence within the Russian colonial paradigm — manifested in the widespread use of the Russian language and consumption of Russian content — provided Russian dictator V. Putin with the illusion of a swift conquest of Ukraine and the denial of the Ukrainian nation’s statehood. This culminated in a bloody, protracted war in which Ukraine defends itself against re-colonization and absorption by Russia. The latter, at any cost, obstructs Ukraine’s democratic distancing and integration into the Western world. Decolonization in Ukraine remains an underexplored field, necessitating interdisciplinary research that should begin with a legal perspective, which is the aim of this article. The methodology relies on systemic, comparative, and legal analyses.
Сonclusions. National characteristics of decolonization in Ukraine have been identified and substantiated, and the simplified perception of decolonization as merely a struggle against colonial markers and symbols has been refuted. The experience of Ukraine and other post-Soviet states demonstrates that the process of decolonization may commence or intensify significantly later than the formal attainment of independence, often in response to the threat of re-colonization by the former metropole.
At the time of the adoption of decommunization laws, and even now, there is no clear understanding of the essence of decolonization: how exactly it should proceed in Ukraine, the stages it will involve, its ultimate goals, and whether those goals are attainable or whether it will remain an ongoing process of cleansing from the RussianSoviet colonial legacy. Furthermore, the necessity of forming a decolonization policy within Ukraine’s ethnopolitical framework has yet to be adequately addressed.

Key words: decolonization, decommunization, Russia-Ukraine war, ethnopolitics, postcolonialism.

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