Author ORCID Identifier
ORCID 0000-0003-2291-1238
ORCID 0000-0002-7501-500X
ORCID 0000-0002-5683-136X
ORCID 0000-0001-8453-9502
ORCID 0000-0003-4100-6698
Abstract
The article examines the transformation of religiosity among Ukrainian university students under conditions of the full-scale russian-Ukrainian war. The study aims to identify the specific features of religious self-identification among students of the Bogomolets National Medical University and changes in their attitudes toward religion following the outbreak of the full-scale invasion. The application of the case study method made it possible to examine these processes within a local student community by comparing different dimensions of religiosity, including the place of religion within individuals’ worldviews, denominational affiliation, and subjectively perceived changes in attitudes toward religion under wartime conditions. The findings reveal a complex configuration of religious and non-religious positions. Although Orthodox identity clearly predominates among those who report an affiliation with a particular religious tradition, the proportion of students who consider themselves religious is almost equal to that of those who do not. At the same time, a broad spectrum of intermediate worldview positions was identified, including the patterns of “belonging without belief” and “belief without belonging,” alongside a substantial prevalence of agnostic self-identification. This pattern points to the limitations of a binary distinction between religious and non-religious individuals in describing the worldview structure of university students. The research found that the full-scale war did not produce a unidirectional shift in attitudes toward religion within the student community under study: turning to religion and experiencing increased religiosity were almost evenly balanced by a weakening of religious commitment and disengagement from religion. These findings suggest that contemporary student religiosity should be understood as a configuration of multidirectional spiritual trajectories in which personal faith, denominational self-identification, and changes in attitudes toward religion shaped by the experience of war do not necessarily coincide. Their complex interplay at the community level creates a distinctive form of dynamic worldview equilibrium.
Recommended Citation
Ishchuk, Nataliia; Laputko, Anna; Demydenko, Yaroslava; Vasiuk, Iryna; and Kiriienko, Serhii
(2026)
"Faith, Doubt, and Belonging: Spiritual Trajectories of University Students Under Conditions of Full-Scale War,"
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 46
:
Iss.
9
, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/2693-2229.2924
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol46/iss9/6