Images of the Slavic countries in the consciousness of Russian citizens (a case study of Ukraine and Belarus)

In foreign policy relations between Slavic countries, the interaction of Russia with Ukraine and Belarus is of particular importance. These countries have common cultural roots and historical past, but different political structure and geopolitical guidelines in the present. It is important to understand the specificity of each other's perception by political actors to more effectively build a political course and prevent international conflicts. The empirical study of the images of Ukraine and Belarus in the minds of Russian citizens was carried out within the framework of a political-psychological approach based on a special model, centered around the image of the country as a system of interrelated elements including images of government, leader, people, territory and geopolitical image of the state. The research methodology included focused interviews with Russian citizens and a set of projective techniques. The research has shown that the Russians perceive Ukraine and Belarus as parts of a single ethno-cultural and historico-political space. The peoples of these countries are defined as “ours”, and the attitude towards them is positive with different emotional nuances. However, the image of Belarus is more congruent; its structural and informative elements generally combine with each other in cognitive and emotional aspects. The image of Ukraine is more complex and controversial: there is a kind of split into a positively perceived Ukraine-country with its brotherly people and Ukraine-state with a negatively evaluated authority. The strongest influence on the perception of Ukraine and Belarus is exerted by the international political context, temporal and communicative factors, axiological and symbolic components of political identity of the Russians.

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