DANYLIW RESEARCH SEMINAR ON CONTEMPORARY UKRAINE

The paper deals with the transformation of the Crimean Tatar women role behavior during the ‘Crimean crisis’ provoked by the annexation of Crimea by Russia in the spring of 2014. This crisis is accompanied by increased international tensions, military conflict in the east of Ukraine and drastic life changes of the Crimean people. The suppression of dissent and repression against pro-Ukrainian activists in Crimea created an atmosphere of fear, distrust, and insecurity. In the last five years the institutions of civil society in Crimea have practically ceased to exist. Their place was taken by quasi-institutions created either directly by local authorities, or with their tacit support. In this situation, any grass-roots initiatives of the Crimeans to defend their collective rights and interests deserve attention. Among such initiatives can be named the organization ‘Crimean solidarity’ emerged in 2016 when mass detentions and arrests of Crimean Tatars began. It united the families of the victims, their lawyers, activists of the Crimean Tatar national movement and the Mejlis. A special place in the activity of ‘Crimean solidarity’ belongs to women. The paper contributes to the existing scholarship on the transformation of the women’s role and behavior in a state of crisis. Furthermore, it aims to contribute to the understanding of the situation in the post-annexed Crimea, which is in many ways a terra incognita.