ŹRÓDŁA I PRZYCZYNY KONFLIKTU ZBROJNEGO NA UKRAINIE W UJĘCIU POLEMOLOGICZNYM

The aim of this paper is to identify and analyse the sources and causes of the armed conflict in Ukraine from a polemological perspective, i.e. referring to deep structural factors, economic tendencies and phenomena, as well as occasional causes. The complexity of the Ukrainian armed conflict results largely from the character of the sources and causes, and from the fact that they are deeply-rooted and go way beyond the problem of stopping the process of Ukraine’s initial integration with the EU by former President Viktor Yanukovych. From a polemological perspective, the escalation of the conflict was caused by a complex combination of structural and economic causes. With regard to the postponement of the signing of the association agreement with the EU, it should rather be regarded as a pretext (an occasional cause) of starting the protests, whose escalation led to the establishment of the socalled separatist republics and the outbreak of the armed conflict. The paper attempts to sort out and conduct a broad analysis of the causes of the abovementioned events.