Fighters’ motivations for joining extremist groups: Investigating the attractiveness of the Right Sector's Volunteer Ukrainian Corps

Abstract

In 2014, eight years prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian-backed separatists seized parts of the Ukrainian regions Luhansk and Donetsk. Shortly thereafter, thousands of Ukrainians voluntarily enrolled to various paramilitary battalions. Unlike the Right Sector's Volunteer Ukrainian Corps (RS VUC), almost all battalions were incorporated into Ukrainian official defence structures. Applying uncertainty-identity theory and based on interviews, observations, and documents, this study investigates the attractiveness of RS VUC prior to the 2022 war, motivating the fighters to join this organisation and to remain in it. The study found that fighters of RS VUC distrusted society, the wider population, and state authorities. RS VUC, with its high fighting morale, discipline, family-like relationships between fighters, as well as its clear ideology and boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’, were attractive to the fighters since its unambiguous group prototypes and high entitativity, reduced the fighters’ self-uncertainty regarding their social identity in an uncertain environment. The findings also revealed that the fighters’ choice to join RS VUC can be understood as a rational decision, since RS VUC's group entitativity provided the fighters with moral and emotional benefits, as well as maximised their chances of survival.

Mobilising Extremism in Times of Change: Analysing the UK’s Far-Right Online Content During the Pandemic

“…This group identification provides the individual with a sense of purpose, who they are, prototypical guidelines to follow, a value system, a simple dichotomy between “us” and “them”, and a basic understanding of world phenomena (Hogg, 2014 , 2020 ; Hogg et al, 2013 ). Studies utilising this framework outline extremist collectives in different uncertainty-inducing scenarios (Hogg, 2020 ; Hohman et al, 2010 ; Mutallimzada & Steiner, 2023 ). For instance, Mutallimzada and Steiner ( 2023 ) analyse the mobilisation of Ukrainian fighters pre-2022 into the Volunteer Ukrainian Corps, showcasing how self-uncertainty is reduced through the paramilitary group’s high levels of prototypicality and entitativity in a conflict environment.…”

“…Studies utilising this framework outline extremist collectives in different uncertainty-inducing scenarios (Hogg, 2020 ; Hohman et al, 2010 ; Mutallimzada & Steiner, 2023 ). For instance, Mutallimzada and Steiner ( 2023 ) analyse the mobilisation of Ukrainian fighters pre-2022 into the Volunteer Ukrainian Corps, showcasing how self-uncertainty is reduced through the paramilitary group’s high levels of prototypicality and entitativity in a conflict environment. In another study, Hogg ( 2020 ) outlines how the rising toxicity and existential threat narratives in far-right populist leadership create an effective environment for their supporter’s in-group affinity and anxiety reduction.…”