Since February 24, 2022, Ukraine has defended not only its sovereign territory, national identity, and democratic values but international law and the security of Europe. Russia's military aggression against Ukraine disregards moral and legal norms of warfare. The army of any state reflects the moral, legal, technological, and intellectual caliber of its society. By now, most of the world has seen that the so-called "second best army of the world" is composed largely of poorly trained draftees, mercenaries, criminals, looters, rapists, and thieves who have violated all of the tenants of the international laws of war,1 in particular, the Geneva and Hague Conventions on the Laws of Land War.
This article is about the territorial identity of the inhabitants of Melitopol, Ukraine. It focuses on measuring markers of this identity: emotional attachment (proud of the city; love for the city); knowledge of its historical and cultural heritage; city patriotism and citizenship; the density of social communications; and social trust. It reports on results of a representative sociological study "The Markers of Self-Identification of Melitopol Residents," which was aimed at identifying identities capable of forming a collective identity for this city. This study revealed that there are effective conditions in the city for the formation of a collective territorial identity, namely: There is affinity with its physical space; a significant portion of residents are interested in city issues, which is the basis for forming groups and associations based on common interests within the local community; and there are dense social communications in the media space of the city. On the other hand, the study also found that the city's historical and cultural heritage are not effective factors of the city's identity. The authors conclude the consolidation of the city's identity needs to takes place around contemporary events and circumstances; hence, there is a need to make the city a more useful social space with infrastructure that meets the contemporary needs and interests of its residents. The study also reveals that in Melitopol, like the whole of Ukrainian society, there is a lack of social trust, largely due to the post Soviet Union distrust of political institutions both at the national and local levels. At the same time, there is considerable interest in the consolidation of various social groups and the formation of social trust.
The article analyzes the phenomenon of social solidarity of the diaspora as one of the main directions of development of modern society in the context of challenges related to the problem of COVID-19. The analysis of social principles and genesis of comprehension of the category of social solidarity and cohesion on the materials of social philosophy is carried out. The essence of the main scientific approaches to the study of the concepts of social solidarity and cohesion is determined. Solidarity in work is seen as one of the prerequisites for stability and social order. The modern scientific definition of "social solidarity" in the social sciences means the unity of a group, class, or action that generates unity of interests, goals, standards, and mutual understanding. Solidarity processes by modern foreign and domestic researchers today are associated primarily with such phenomena as cooperation, cohesion, unity, public trust, the presence of common ideas, views and goals. Although social cohesion seems a difficult concept to study, researchers note its extreme importance in detailing the category of solidarity as a wide range of components: mutual assistance, trust, perception of difference, perception of justice, social inclusion, and so on. Since the spread of the COVID-19 virus and disease, people around the world have faced a large-scale emergency and an incomprehensible situation that is new to most modern societies. Therefore, the socio-cultural understanding of the pandemic as a global problem today acquires special significance for the search for the foundations of social cohesion, as a means of reducing tensions and social solidarity of communities. The authors argue that it is social solidarity and cohesion of the diaspora of communities and communities that is an effective means of social counteraction to modern destructive factors and challenges.
The purpose of the study was to analyze situations of occurrence and spread of destructive rumors and, at the same time, to identify effective legal practices to counteract them in multicultural urban communities. In most cases, rumors do not reflect the factual situation, so they cannot be a tool for unbiased presentation of facts and, in the case of intercultural interaction, they can also provoke extreme and unlawful negative feelings about a certain group of people. The results of the study indicate that in the city Melitopol there are rumors about immigrants, refugees, ethnic groups, national communities or other groups, which are mostly negative. The analysis made it possible to identify the most common ethnic rumors: «Roma are thieves», «Jews are selfish»; confessional: «Muslims are terrorists»; socio-cultural: «IDPs live on state aid», «Ukrainians are cheap labor from Western Europe». Based on a qualitative analysis of social practices of Melitopol community members, in the conclusions the authors corroborate the effectiveness of ways of counteracting destructive rumors in multicultural urban communities as a legal means of solving the problems of intercultural interactions.
The aim of the study was to provide a sociopolitical analysis of approaches and means to engage members of multicultural communities in active participation to counteract the effects of destructive ethnic rumors and build their own spaces for coexistence. The need for sociological research on the effects of rumors is highlighted by the importance of finding means to counteract their manipulative use for destructive purposes. The empirical research method used was a questionnaire survey with the aim of creating new opportunities for interaction between people of different backgrounds, for the sake of harmony and exchange of experiences and thus being able to establish partnerships between the cities participating in the Intercultural Cities Network of Ukraine (ICC-Ukraine). It is concluded that the research allows us to affirm the effectiveness of using the method of counteracting ethnic rumors "Antitumor" proposed by the program "Intercultural Cities" of the Council of Europe in Ukraine, as a systemic means of solving the problems of communicative interactions in multicultural communities.
The objective of the study is to comprehensively analyze the methods of intercultural mapping of communities as a tool for the municipal management of a multiethnic urban community and, thus, determine their effectiveness for the active construction of intercultural practices and reformatting of the urban culture space. The Intercultural Mapping Methodology, developed by the Council of Europe's Intercultural Cities Programme, includes tools such as the Intercultural Cities Index and the Intercultural Citizenship Test, as well as sociological and focus group studies, which further involve a wide range of active residents that identify tangible cultural and intangible values in cities. The use of this technique by the intercultural community of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol has proven its effectiveness as a mechanism to involve representatives of ethnic groups in cooperation with the municipal authorities for the joint development of the city's cultural policy. It is concluded that a comprehensive analysis of the results of the study allowed to determine the priorities and strategies of its development, cultural and creative resources of the territorial community, creating conditions and new opportunities for a dynamic, inclusive and democratic intercultural society.
The article considers the main stages of formation, the main internal and external factors of development of the Ukrainian community of Meskhetian Turks in the current contexts of socio-political realities of today. Based on the analysis of theoretical sources and applied research of problems, factors, nature and directions of ethnocultural adaptation of Meskhetian Turks in Ukraine, there are the tendencies of growth of social mobility and migration activity, democratization of marital and family relations, diversification of employment, significant changes in social, cultural and educational environment, places of compact residence of Ukrainian Meskhetian Turks. The culturological and sociological study of the problems of sociocultural adaptation and the definition of the content elements and the target direction of the system target regional programs of ethnocultural adaptation of the youth of Meskhetian Turks in Ukraine are actualized. It is justified the need to predict sociocultural trends and timely creation of adequate mechanisms and development the forms and methods of coordination of cultural policy in the field of education in the multicultural environment of the south-eastern regions of Ukraine.
Today, Russian imperialism is undergoing a new phase of its transformation, moving from covert interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states to open territorial expansion. Its primary task is plans to seize the sovereign state of Ukraine through military aggression, forced inoculation of its own model of the world order and return to the space of a single "Russian world". The former post-Soviet Baltic republics, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia are considered as the next territories for integration into the imperial space of Russia. And this is a war not only and not so much for territories, but for ideas, a worldview that will dominate them. The main features of imperialism as an ideology and policy are an irrational desire for military expansion and absolute security, an unobsessed regime with a "center-periphery" subordination relationship, a patronage-client scheme, and the "privatization" of state functions by the ruling elite, turning them into a source of private profits. A distinctive feature of Russian imperialism is that it carries out not only territorial expansion, but above all ideological and ideological expansion, instilling its ideological picture of the world on the conquered peoples. The Russian imperial ideology has been formed over the centuries and is based on such mental traits as: superiority, dominance, psychological inclination towards permissiveness and robbery, servile submission to power in various forms, abnormal patience, religious fanaticism and more. These features of mentality became the basis of the imperial ideology of state building as a system of views, ideas and worldview of Russians. Russian imperialism (rashism) is a syncretism of Russian Nazism, Orthodoxy and psychotraumatic nostalgia for the USSR, which has turned into an imperial identity.
The article is devoted to the analysis of the effective mechanisms and positive experience of the Bohdan Khmelnіtsky Melitopol State Pedagogical University in increasing the productivity of educational, scientific and cultural support of social processes by means of integration of participants in the educational process, teachers and students in the development of the social movement, popularization of the values of the Ukrainian people, strengthening of the national idea and statehood. The means and mechanisms of social cohesion of the community in the conditions of war are considered. It was established that the concept of social cohesion today represents a complex system of practical actions for stable development, improving the quality of life of all layers of society, preventing risks of social alienation with the aim of creating social well-being, harmonious and stable social relations as a component of socio-economic progress. The need for intersubjective practices in the educational space to create relationships of public trust, trust in social institutions for the education of active citizenship, the basis of which is trust in society and its social institutions, as a relevant link in the development of the European practice of intercultural dialogue in education, is substantiated. It was established that the successful cases and positive experience of the Bohdan Khmelnіtsky Melitopol State Pedagogical University of productive educational, scientific and cultural support of social processes in regional contexts affect the integration of participants in the educational process, teachers and students, the development of the social movement, the popularization of the values of the Ukrainian people, the strengthening of the national idea and statehood . The tenacity of the traditions of the Ukrainian educational and scientific community is substantiated - in the relentless pursuit of professional excellence, cooperation with local communities, educational institutions, public communities, unity and cohesion.
The article is devoted to the analysis of the effective mechanisms and positive experience of the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi State University of Education in the formation of social competences and the development of soft skills, which demonstrates the productivity of educational, scientific and cultural support of social processes in regional contexts, which affect the integration of participants in the educational process, teachers and students in the development of public movement to solve the difficulties and main problems of ethnic communities in the conditions of temporary occupation and war. The participation of the university in the implementation of such international projects of the Council of Europe "Intercultural cities" with the involvement of journalists, representatives of national and cultural communities "Implementation and involvement of cultural diversity at the international level" (2020, Melitopol, Ballarat, Australia), "Fighting rumors" (2021 year) in order to prevent fears, discrimination, as well as foster a sense of respect, mutual understanding, responsibility for one's own actions, contribute to the successful management of cultural diversity and expand the circle of international relations. It is asserted that within the framework of the implementation of the current Council of Europe Project "Strengthening the protection of national minorities, including Roma and minority languages in Ukraine" under the leadership of Zemfira Kondur, the scientific and pedagogical community of the universi ty is making maximum efforts to expand effective channels of mutual assistance for representatives of ethnic communities, internally displaced persons or forced migrants by implementing a number of initiatives regarding social, informational, legal, psychological, and humanitarian support aimed at strengthening dialogue, increasing the level of cohesion and intercultural interaction in the conditions of Russian aggression and temporary occupation.
