It's no secret that the Russian invasion of Ukraine shakes the Israelis born in the USSR - now there are preliminary data to what extent:
a study currently being conducted by Dr. Svetlana Chachashvili-Bolotin, a senior researcher at the Institute for Immigration and Social Integration at the Rupin Academic Center, focuses on the consequences of the war Russia-Ukraine on Israelis from the former Soviet Union.
It should be said right away: 940 people participated in the first and online part of the study, but the first group for which the data was processed is of 467 women aged 25-60 with a higher education, who immigrated to Israel in 1988-2018.
According to the researcher, some of the patterns observed among the educated can also be found among other former Soviet veterans, but with different intensities.
Dr. Chachashvili-Bolotin. Photo: Alexandra Bolotina,
Among educated women who left the former Soviet Union, there is overwhelming support for the Ukrainian side (about 80%). However, there are differences between women who left Russia, Ukraine, and other countries of the former Soviet Union.
The overwhelming majority of people born in Ukraine - 87% - are leaning towards the Ukrainian side.
8% of them have no inclination towards any side, and 5% lean towards Russia.
Support for Ukraine among native Russians is estimated at about 76%, compared to about 2% who support Russia, and 22% are not inclined to take any side in the war.
Among the natives of the other countries of the former USSR, there are about 74% who support Ukraine, 5% in Russia, and 22% have no position. 79% of the natives of Ukraine reported that they contributed or helped the citizens of Ukraine. Among the natives of Russia, the support rate is estimated at 66% , and among the rest of the countries it is estimated at 68%.
The consequences of the war in Ukraine, photo: Reuters
The research participants were also asked if the war is present in their daily lives.
For Russian-born women the score was 3.5, and for Ukrainian-born women 3.8, with a score of 1 representing complete disagreement with the statement, and 5 signifying complete agreement.
In the index of involvement and the presence of the war in everyday life, the score of Russian-born women was 3.7 on average, and for Ukrainian-born women - 4. That is, Ukrainian-born women are more affected by the war and more involved in what is related to it, compared to Russian-born women or the other countries.
Consequences of the war in Ukraine, photo: Tamir Morg
Tensions within the family
Dr. Chachashvili-Bolutin also asked to find out how the war is reflected in the respondents' immediate environment. "Russian-born women experience more tensions within the family because of the different opinions, compared to the other groups," she says. "55% of them said that within the family or at Those who are close have different opinions, compared to 47% among Ukrainian women."
40% of women born in Russia said that their lives had changed for the worse as a result of the war, as did 42% of women born in Ukraine, but only 26% of women born in the other countries responded this way.
The main reason is concern for relatives left in the countries of origin.
On the other hand, 57% of women born in Russia, 56% of women born in Ukraine and 73% of women born in other countries said that their lives have not changed.
The war in Ukraine, photo: Reuters
Four out of five respondents were surprised by the outbreak of the war, but the particularly interesting statistic is the emotional reaction to the war: 48% of Ukrainian women were surprised by the way the war affected them, as were 37% of Russian women and 33% of women from other countries.
It was also found that the war strengthened the feeling that immigrating to Israel was the right decision: both Ukrainian-born and Russian-born gave an average score of more than 4.
At the same time, the war did little to strengthen or create Ukrainian identity among natives of Ukraine: the average score for the determination was 3.3 (on a scale of 1-5).
A destroyed building near Kyiv, photo: AFP
The researcher: A comprehensive intervention is required
"It is possible to see a revival of this identity among women born in Ukraine," says Dr. Chachashvili-Bolutin.
The war had an emotional impact, and a comprehensive intervention is required to help and reduce the dimensions of the secondary trauma among them.
The policy makers must allocate resources for the benefit of this population."
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