When, on 21 November 2013, former Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych decided to postpone an EU Association Agreement, few would have predicted that this would lead to a prolonged inter-communal conflict in Europe's borderland. What started as a peaceful demonstration of support for Ukraine's pro-European course by thousands of people in Maidan Square in Kiev soon developed into a vicious confrontation dividing families, communities and the Ukrainian nation.

Since the beginning of the confrontation, a lot has been written about its root causes, the motivations of the main actors, and possible scenarios for the future. However, few have looked at what came to be called the 'Ukraine crisis' from the point of view of Russo-Ukrainian relations, and grasped the perspectives of various groups involved, as well as the discursive processes that have contributed to the developments in and interpretations of the conflict. The authors of this Edited Collection each present a facet of the intense and dangerous turmoil provoked by the breakdown in relations, and contribute to a deeper understanding of a crisis that now afflicts both European and global affairs.

Contributors: David Marples, Nicolai Petro, Olga Onuch, Denys Kiryukhin, Greta Uehling, Ivan Katchanovski, Mikhail Pogrebinskiy, Andrew Wilson, Taras Kuzio, Marlene Laruelle, Peter Rutland, Edward W. Walker, Mark Galeotti, Paul Chaisty, Stephen Whitefield, Elena Chebankova, Stephen Hutchings, Joanna Szostek, Marta Dyczok, Mikhail A. Molchanov, Richard Connolly, Paul D'Anieri, Edwin Bacon and Alexander Osipov.