The transformation of national historical memory in the context of hybrid warfare

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the transformation of historical and collective memory in Ukraine under the conditions of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war and to determine its impact on the processes of formation and consolidation of national identity in the contemporary socio-cultural and political context. Particular attention is devoted to identifying new semantic memory narratives that are being actualized under the influence of wartime events, as well as to examining the role of institutional and non-institutional actors in their reproduction. The methodological framework of the study is based on general scientific and specialized methods of inquiry, including analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, as well as systemic and structural-functional approaches. Comparative analysis methods were employed to contrast pre-war and wartime models of historical memory, along with elements of discourse analysis to examine academic, educational, and public memory narratives. The source base consists of contemporary scholarly publications by Ukrainian and foreign researchers published between 2022 and 2025. The findings demonstrate that the war has become a catalyst for the reinterpretation of the historical past and has accelerated the processes of decolonizing historical memory. A tendency toward strengthening the value-based component of national identity has been identified, along with an increased role of memory related to contemporary wartime events and the formation of new symbolic markers of collective solidarity. It is substantiated that the transformation of historical memory occurs unevenly and depends on regional, educational, religious, and informational contexts, as well as on the influence of digital media and the conditions of information warfare. The conclusions emphasize that, under wartime conditions, historical memory is transformed into a strategic resource of national resilience and a factor of societal mobilization. At the same time, the need to develop a coherent model of state memory policy oriented toward a long-term perspective and intergenerational transmission of memory is becoming increasingly relevant. The results obtained may be applied in further interdisciplinary research on national identity, historical memory, and the humanitarian security of Ukraine.