Explores topics such as the popularity of the separatist movement in Donbass, the perception of local political elites, the involvement of private armies and the implications for sub-state actors across the post-Soviet space. This book was originally published as a special issue of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies.

1. Introduction: The Ukrainian crisis: sub-state and non-state actors Tracey German and Emmanuel Karagiannis 2. Half measures and incomplete reforms: the breeding ground for a hybrid civil Society in Ukraine Laura Cleary 3. No Moscow stooges: identity polarization and guerrilla movements in Donbass Anna Matveeva 4. The irreversibility of history: the case of the Ukrainian crisis (2013-2015) Stylianos A. Sotiriou 5. Radicalization of Russians in Ukraine: from 'accidental' diaspora to rebel movement Ivan D. Loshkariov and Andrey A. Sushentsov 6. Proxy agents, auxiliary forces, and sovereign defection: assessing the outcomes of using non-state actors in civil conflicts Vladimir Rauta 7. Paramilitary motivation in Ukraine: beyond integration and abolition Tetyana Malyarenko and David J. Galbreath 8. Ukrainian volunteer fighters in the eastern front: ideas, political-social norms and motions as mobilization mechanisms Emmanuel Karagiannis 9. Russia and South Ossetia: conferring statehood or creeping annexation? Tracey German 10. Transnistrian strategy in the context of Russian-Ukrainian relations: the rise and failure of 'dual alignment' Igor Istomin and Irina Bolgova

Tracey German is a Reader in the Defence Studies Department at King's College London, UK. Her research focuses on Russia's relations with its neighbours, and conflict and security in the Caucasus and Caspian region. Publications include Regional Cooperation in the South Caucasus: Good Neighbours or Distant Relatives? (2012) and Russia's Chechen War (2003), as well as articles in journals such as International Affairs, Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, European Security, Europe-Asia Studies, Central Asian Survey, Vestnik analitiki and Politique étrangère.

Emmanuel Karagiannis is a Senior Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department at King's College London, UK. He has written extensively on Russian foreign policy, ethnic conflicts in the ex-USSR, and political Islam in Central Asia. His articles have appeared in, among others, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Small Wars and Insurgencies, Contemporary Security Policy, Asian Security, European Security, Mediterranean Politics, Europe-Asia Studies, Nationalities Papers, Central Asian Survey, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics.