Pandemic Borders of Post-Soviet De Facto States

The article focuses on the phenomenon of post-Soviet de facto borders (viz. the borders of Abkhazia, the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Transnistria) in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The author outlines similarities and differences of these de facto borders in comparison with internationally recognized ones and compares border policies implemented by individual post-Soviet de facto states. While de facto states utilized their borders to combat the pandemic largely in the same ways as recognized states did, their pandemic border regimes were less legitimate for the international community and thus de facto states were more dependent on cross-border relations with their “patrons,” having no other viable options. The author also argues that even de facto states with similar geographical and political conditions chose partially different policies for managing pandemic bordered restrictions.