Since the beginning of the Russian attack in 2014, Ukrainian society has been a society in transition at war, in which gender roles are being redistributed, questioned, but also (re)affirmed. The contribution examines the interactions between feminist and queer mobilisations and antifeminist reactions. This unfolds in a field of tension between equality policies inspired by Western countries and the EU, local forms of appropriation, memory politics, and the rejection of such policies. The paper addresses the following questions: 

1) Agency and identity: How do new political and military roles of women and/or queer persons influence self-perceptions, but also opposing mobilisations? Are there homonationalist arguments that are used in contact with Western partners or serve as a means of distancing oneself from Russia?

2) Transnationality: What do the networks of women and the LGBTIQ+ movement and their opponents look like? What role do Western NGOs and anti-feminist initiatives from other countries play in Ukraine? Do transnational institutions such as the EU play roles as a point of reference or as target institution for campaigns? 

3) Memory: What role do historical references, such as the gender politics of the Soviet Union or the experience of the Second World War, play in the transformation or affirmation of gender roles? 

4) Experience of violence and occupation: What role do the policies of the Russian occupiers play, who explicitly present themselves as fighters against alleged ‘genderisation’? How does suffering and perpetrating violence change the positions of those involved?