Archetypal Scenarios of the Russian-Ukrainian War

Abstract

The aim of the article is to identify and analyze the key archetypal scenarios of war that are playing out in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation in various narratives and forms of representation. Based on an archetypal approach, a typology of war scenarios as a historical and socio-political phenomenon has been developed. Four scenarios are identified: colonial, Westphalian, ideological/civilizational, and religious (apostate). Based on a comparative analysis, it is concluded that the Russian-Ukrainian war is a complex interweaving of all these archetypal scenarios of war, with dominant features of colonial, ideological/civilizational and religious (apostate) narratives. It is shown that the Westphalian-type war scenario proved to be irrelevant for explaining the goals of Russia’s full-scale invasion, as it does not recognize Ukraine’s sovereignty and ignores legal and ethical-cultural norms of warfare. It is argued that the «war against heretics» narrative reveals Russia’s true attitude towards Ukraine as an «apostate» from a «common» historical and civilizational heritage, requiring either its «conversion» or «destruction.» The eschatological pseudo-religious rhetoric of the Russian official and propaganda discourse allows for legitimizing and justifying the «denazification» of Ukrainianness through any forms of violence, up to total destruction.