How the war "reformatted" the identities of Ukrainians and Russians in the US

A new study based on data from a major federal population survey (ACS) shows: after the outbreak of a full-scale war, Americans of Ukrainian descent began to emphasise their national identity more strongly, while Americans of Russian descent, on the contrary, were less likely to call themselves Russians.

According to the analysis, the number of "Ukrainians" (US-born) increased by about 18.9 per cent after 2021, while the number of "Russians" fell by 6.8 per cent.

At the same time, it is noted that no economic reasons for such changes were found: the work and salaries of representatives of both groups remained similar. This means that the changes are not related to the material situation, but to new values and reaction to the political situation.

Key findings

• Growth of Ukrainian identity: Ukrainian-Americans have become more active in claiming their roots. The proportion of those born in the U.S. who describe themselves as Ukrainian increased by ~18.9% (from 0.38% to 0.47% of respondents). Many began speaking Ukrainian at home - in 2022, about 42% of Ukrainian immigrants reported using Ukrainian at home, up from 35.6% a year earlier. The researchers attribute this shift to the "shift effect": after the start of the full-scale invasion, it became unacceptable for many people to speak Russian and they switched to Ukrainian.

• Declining Russian identity: At the same time, Russian-born Americans are increasingly less likely to call themselves "Russian." After 2021, the number of US-born Russians fell by about 6.8% (the 2022 data was below projections). This trend is especially noticeable in rural areas and small towns: here, the share of "Russians" fell sharply (in 2022, it fell by almost 25.7 per cent). Among Russian immigrants, the assimilation that started earlier continued - in 2022, only about 71.5 per cent of them spoke Russian at home (against 85.3 per cent in 2012), while the share of English-speaking households rose to 28.5 per cent.

• Lack of economic reasons: Researchers found no evidence of serious discrimination or worsening economic conditions for any group based on ethnicity. Employment and wage levels of Ukrainians and Russians in the U.S. remained roughly equal. This indicates that the roots of change are in the socio-political context and personal values rather than in the economy.

Changes in linguistic behaviour

Examination of the data showed clear changes in the language spoken at home by these immigrant groups.

Immigrants from Ukraine have noticeably "switched" to Ukrainian after 2022: while in 2021 only 35.6 per cent of immigrant Ukrainians spoke Ukrainian at home, in 2022 it was already 42.1 per cent. In fact, Ukrainian has become the most common language among these families, while the role of Russian has diminished.

Immigrants from Russia, on the contrary, continued the assimilation started before the war: the share of Russian speakers fell from 85.3% in 2012 to 71.5% in 2022, while English speakers became 28.5%. Over the year 2021-2022, the share of "Russian speakers" among ex-Russians decreased by another 3.7 p.p. - The English-speaking component almost doubled. Thus, Russian-speaking migrants are confidently switching to English, but there is no direct "rollback" effect of the war (as in the case of Ukrainians) in their linguistic behaviour.

Political and demographic factors

The study found that both socio-demographic and political conditions influenced identity changes:

• Political attitudes: in "red" (Republican) districts, Ukrainians were less likely to call themselves Ukrainians after 2021 than in "blue" (Democratic) districts. Simply put, the more Republican votes in a district, the lower the likelihood of demonstrating a Ukrainian identity.

• Age and education: it was the older generation (65+) and people with higher education who reacted more strongly to the events. They were more likely to "switch" to Ukrainian identity after the full-scale invasion of the war began. Researchers interpret this as follows: the older and educated have a stronger emotional connection with the historical homeland.

• Place of residence: residents of small towns and rural areas showed a particularly sharp decline in "Russian" identity. In previous years, the decline was milder in the provinces, but the scale of the war forced these communities to catch up with the trend: after 2022, they were almost as active in abandoning Russian identity as residents of big cities.

Thus, the war stimulated the revision of ethnic boundaries unevenly: the political environment and demographic characteristics strengthened or weakened the changes.

According to the authors of the study, the war in Ukraine became a real "catalyst" for changes in ethnic identity in the American diaspora.

Americans of Ukrainian origin strengthened their identity after the start of the conflict - they switched to the Ukrainian language at home and more often called themselves Ukrainians, while Americans of Russian origin were moving away from the Russian self-designation.