About me

My research is centred around the origins and the course of social mobilisation in the context of protests, rebellion and the Russo-Ukrainian war, about which I wrote my doctoral thesis. I received a first-class BA degree in International Relations and History from the University of Leicester and a PhD in Political Sciences and International Studies from the Centre for Russian and Eastern European Studies (CREES) University of Birmingham. I also worked there as s a Research Assistant, Graduate Teaching Assistant and Teaching Fellow.

Until July 2024 I held a Research Associate position at Central and Eastern European Studies (CEES), University of Glasgow, where I woked on an ESRC-funded project 'From Russia with War'. As part of my role I conducted field research about and among foreign combatants in Ukraine and published a paper about the motivations of Belarusian volunteers to fight for Ukraine since 2014.

Between 2018 and 2022 I conducted extensive ethnographic field research in Ukraine, among the conflict's witnesses and perpetrators from both sides of the contention. I utilized some of the findings in a recently published monograph Mariupol 2013-2022: Stories of Mobilization and Resistance. I am currently working on papers about motivations of Western fighters in Ukraine and grassroots mobilization of Luhansk residents supportive of the Antimaidan and 'Russian Spring' movements in 2013-2014.

Between April and September 2022 I volunteered in Ukraine to facilitate and aid humanitarian activities, including assisting in civilian evacuations in frontline Donbas, and interpreting for an international team of volunteers. Unfortunately, I sustained life-changing injuries in a car accident in Ukraine in September 2022. I have continued supporting the Ukrainian army and civilians by raising funds and coordinating humanitarian aid since, from abroad.

I run two fundraisers: one is to support the Ukrainian army and the other to support my physiotherapy to help me get back on my feet.