Navigating (im)mobility in an urban space: migrant’s lived experience in Kyiv/Ukraine before 2022

Abstract Before the full-scale war, Ukraine was one of the key origin countries for migrants seeking to move to the European Union. While considerable research has covered international migration, the understanding of how internal and international migration in Ukraine are interconnected is under-researched. The paper aims to situate the urban dimension at the core of the analysis to discuss the patterns of internal and external mobilities and their interrelatedness in pre- 2022 Ukraine. Drawing upon a recent turn in migration studies towards agency, aspirations, capabilities and decision-making, our research explores the perspectives of individuals who moved to Kyiv from other parts of the country and their future migration scenarios. Based on the fieldwork conducted in Kyiv and in its suburbs, we reveal the fluidity and complexity of migration experience and decision-making as well as the influence of interlinked factors—economic, political, social, and cultural—on mobility strategies. We demonstrate that the city plays a crucial role for migrants aspirations, capabilities and agency in decision making about further (im)mobility although in a nondeterministic way. The paper identifies four main patterns of decision-making processes among the Ukrainian internal migrants who moved to Kyiv: (1) planning to return to their places of origin, (2) considering migration within the country or abroad, (3) deciding to stay in the city and the country, (4) remaining ‘undecided.’ Furthermore, we argue that the strong emphasis on intentions to stay in Ukraine, evident during our fieldwork, has significant implications for migration patterns. This is crucial for comprehending the significant return migration of forced migrants to Ukraine during the war.