ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses Russia’s dominant NRCs to understand Moscow’s reaction to the Euromaidan Revolution and the crisis in Ukraine that followed. The analysis of dominant NRCs and shifts in their distribution demonstrates that significant changes in both external and internal structural factors as well as in foreign policy-making processes contributed to the dominance of the defender of compatriots role and other more assertive NRCs. In addition, the analysis reveals some contestation processes which should not be disregarded, especially in the case of nationalist opposition which was the first body to call for protection of Russian compatriots living in Ukraine. Finally, the chapter demonstrates the temporary and strategic character of some NRCs, such as defender of compatriots.
