Alexksandr Osipian: Critical infrastructure as a crucial factor in the Russo-Ukrainian war of attrition, 2014-2025

21. October 2025

UKRAINE LECTURE SERIES, Tuesday, 21 october 25, 11 am - 1 pm, GD Hs 08 (hybrid event, zoom link) In the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war the physical infrastructure plays a significant role in conquest, control, and resource extraction. The main developments of the war are marked with disputes over infrastructural objects – the construction of the Crimean Bridge after annexation of Crimea in 2014, seizure of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in March 2022, destruction of the Kakhovka dam in June 2023, and the U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal as part of peace talks under Trump administration in 2025.

Dr. Alexandr Osipian’s interests include the economic, cultural, and international history of Eastern Europe, with an emphasis on Ukraine in a broader context of the Black Sea region. He was a research fellow at the universities in the USA, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Hungary. He served as a Visiting Professor of the History of Ukraine at the Justus-Liebig-Universität in Giessen in 2018-2019.