MILITARY SYMBOLISM OF UKRAINE (2022–2025): FOLKLORIC GENESIS, TYPOLOGY, AND FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE

Abstract

The article offers an interdisciplinary analysis of wartime symbolism that has emerged in the Ukrainian cultural space during the Russian–Ukrainian war of 2022–2025. The study proposes to consider this symbolic system as a complex semiotic structure that arises in response to national trauma while drawing on deeply rooted folkloric archetypes. The transformation of key symbolic figures is examined – such as the Ghost of Kyiv, Saint Javelin, Patron the Dog, memetic figures (NAFO, tarot divinations), popular wartime songs (“Bayraktar”), and iconic toponyms (Snake Island, Azovstal, Bakhmut) – in terms of their ontological nature, functional roles, and cultural genealogy.The article introduces a three-layer typology of wartime symbols: (1) by ontology (anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, technomorphic, phytomorphic, artefactual, geotoponymic, verbal); (2) by function (therapeutic, mobilizing, sacred, commemorative, educational, parodic-defensive); (3) by cultural origin (traditional, digital, hybrid). This approach allows for structuring a large body of empirical material and reveals how symbols function as rapid responses to social and military crises.Particular attention is paid to parallels between new symbolic figures and traditional folklore imagery (e.g., the Ghost of Kyiv as a charakternyk warrior; Saint Javelin as a protector akin to the Virgin Mary; Patron as a totemic guardian; Bayraktar as a sacralized weapon; Azovstal as a mythologized place of power). In the study, methods of content analysis of digital media (TikTok, YouTube, Telegram) and analysis of contemporary literary works representing war symbolism are combined with folkloristic, semiotic, and cultural studies approaches. It traces patterns of image circulation, their memetic dissemination, ritualization in digital space, and institutionalization in public culture (stamps, murals, embroidery, official emblems).This is the first attempt to present a systematic map of wartime symbolism as a hybrid cultural phenomenon that synthesizes traditional folk heritage, digital media practices, and emotional-therapeutic functions. The article emphasizes the role of folklore in contemporary information warfare, collective coping mechanisms, symbolic trauma processing, and the formation of cultural memory in times of prolonged military conflict.