Identities in Occupation: A Lecture by Larysa Denysenko

Ukrainians still remain in the occupied territories for various reasons. How often do we think about them?

What does it mean to live under occupation? What crimes do the Russian occupation authorities commit against people? How do they try to preserve their identity amidst fear and violence?

We will discuss this with writer and human rights activist Larysa Denysenko on September 14 at 18:00 as part of the lecture program on local identity.

In particular, we will talk about what occupation is, how a person and their sense of self-identity change under these conditions, and why we often try not to think about it. We will cover psychological terror, coercion, and violence, the ways Russia attempts to influence identities, and how people adapt to life under occupation.

We will separately touch upon the discussions surrounding collaborationism. Is it always possible to clearly divide the behavior of residents in the occupied territories into "correct" and "incorrect"? Where does the boundary lie between forced adaptation, attempts to protect oneself and loved ones, and cooperation with the occupation administration? And how does Ukraine define this boundary at the legislative level?

Larysa Denysenko is a writer and human rights activist. She researches and documents Russian crimes, including war crimes of sexual violence during the war, psychological terror in the temporarily occupied territories, and the fates of people under occupation.

Free admission with registration.

2nd floor, lecture hall.

Language: Ukrainian.

The lecture program on local identity is part of the capacity-building and networking program for local cultural actors "Heritage: Space for Work". This program is supported by the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU), funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden.