Filosofian maisteri Tarkhova Daria

Shifting realities of Russian speakers in Finland

Tieteellinen tutkimus / siihen pohjautuva työ | Nelivuotinen

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been a shock to the states bordering Russia. These states, including Finland, have had to deal with the increased geopolitical aggression from Russia, or a risk of it. Simultaneously, the demographics of Russian speakers in Finland are changing as many who fled Ukraine are from Russian speaking regions (Cultura foundation, 2022). There is little known of the changing demographics of the language group, or of their views on the war in Ukraine. The same survey (ibid.) shows, that the longer Russian speaker has lived in Finland, the more likely they are not to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is a sign of Russian state propaganda being effective abroad – even for people who have lived in Finland for a long time. Furthermore, the war in Ukraine has brought complex transnational histories to the surface - Finland stands with Ukraine and is distancing itself from Russia. For Russian speakers that can mean either isolation from the Finnish popular discourse or being aligned with it - or being in between. These perceptions, or 'realities', can depend on several factors, such as country of origin, time of residence in Finland and consumed media. Exploring these shifting 'realities' or states of 'in between' contributes to understanding Finlands' biggest foreign language group, which is necessary in order to manage complex geopolitical dynamics.