The Ancestral Imperative: How war is redefining Ukrainian citizenship beyond territory

She argues that Russia’s protracted war of aggression has been the primary catalyst for a paradigm shift from a state-centric, territorial model to a de-territorialised, nation-centric framework. This transformation, driven by existential threat, redefines the Ukrainian nation as a global, networked community bound by allegiance rather than solely by geography.

Following its 1991 independence, Ukraine, unlike the Baltic states, adopted an inclusive, territorial principle for citizenship, granting it to all permanent residents within its internationally recognised borders. 

This civic model was coupled with a constitutionally enshrined principle of single citizenship, reflecting a post-Soviet imperative to forge a distinct national identity and guard against external influence, particularly from Russia. Dual citizenship was viewed with suspicion, creating a rigid framework that struggled to accommodate the needs of a growing labour diaspora and historic Ukrainian communities abroad. 

This framework was further challenged by the ancestral citizenship programmes of neighbouring countries, which created a competitive pressure on Ukraine to liberalise its own policies to maintain ties with its population. 

Poiedynok concludes that citizenship is no longer merely a legal status tied to territory but has become Ukraine’s primary instrument for preserving the nation itself in the face of physical and demographic warfare.

Speaker

Dr Olga Poiedynok - Associate Professor at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of International Relations (Department of International Law).