Social conditions of formation of civil and cultural identity of population in the border areas of Russia and Ukraine

This article deals with civil and cultural identity of residents in the border areas of Russia and Ukraine. According to the title, it describes the social conditions that shape the identity of citizens of Belgorod and Kharkov regions. It is necessary to emphasize the distinction between the terms of civil identity and cultural identity. We briefly describe the specificity of the border areas of Belgorod and Kharkov regions, as well as the historical background of their formation. The special attention is paid to the comparative analysis of responses involved in the study which was conducted in 2013 and 2014. It is shown that the opinions of the respondents living in Kharkov region are changing due to the current political situation. The author makes attempts to carry out the analysis and to make recommendations on cooperation within the border areas of Russia and Ukraine.