The “Bessarabian Question” of 1918 in the Media Discourse of Odesa during the Period of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (Based on the Example of the Newspaper “Vilne Zhyttia”)

The study is devoted to examining the interpretations of solutions to the “Bessarabian Question” in the media space of Odesa in the spring of 1918 (based on the daily socio-political newspaper “Vilne Zhyttia”). The purpose of the article is to explore the formation of Ukraine’s (primarily Odesa's) information space in the context of the territorial conflict between the Kingdom of Romania and the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR). The scientific novelty of the article lies in analyzing interstate relations in the Danube region at the end of the First World War through the prism of the periodical press, which remains one of the most informative sources for covering the socio-economic and socio-political processes in Southern Ukraine. Using cliometric research methods, the authors concluded that the editorial board of the Odesa newspaper demonstrated a steady interest in the “Bessarabian Question”, which remained a priority in the editorial policy from March to May 1918. By classifying the published materials according to thematic sections, the main directions of coverage of the Romanian-Ukrainian territorial conflict in the newspaper were identified. The author’s texts and other materials of the publication reflected the ideological views of a significant part of both the UPR political elites and the regional establishment from the Ukrainian socialist camp. Their vision of the border demarcation between Romania and Ukraine was based on the ethnic principle; therefore, the editors and contributors of “Vilne Zhyttia” considered the incorporation of the entire Bessarabia into the Kingdom of Romania unjust.