Les volontaires dans la formation de l’appareil militaire ukrainien (2014-2018). Des dynamiques d’auto-organisation au retour de l’État

The Ukrainian armed forces were unprepared for the armed conflict that broke out in the spring of 2014. In the post-revolutionary situation, mobilization for this conflict involved spontaneous groups of volunteers supported by civilian networks of aid to armed groups. Despite a rationalization under way of the Ukrainian armed forces, an informal logic prevailed, as can be seen from the day-to-day management of the war. Combat units had a degree of self-management in interaction with volunteer networks and civilian associations. This delegation of some military functions to civilian actors did not mean that the state was shedding its prerogatives. In effect, the state remains the reference point for those who are mobilized. The mobilization of these volunteers, who are assuming a classical state function, has contributed to the formation of the country?s armed forces and, even more, of the state during a war.