The article analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on de facto states, their economy and the daily practices of residents. The first part of the study examines the impact of infectious diseases on armed conflicts in general. The second compares the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in six post-Soviet de facto states (LPR, DPR, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh), including the dynamics of border regimes and the transformation of everyday practices of residents. Particular attention is paid to the situation in Transnistria and Abkhazia, where qualitative sociological studies (focus groups) were conducted in autumn 2020 to identify changes in the daily life of the local population in connection with the pandemic, including the transformation of directions and motives of trips outside the republics and perception of the current situation. It has been established that pandemics actualize internal armed conflicts, including due to border securitization and limit international efforts in conflict settlement. The study shows that not only de facto states have become more isolated and experienced a healthcare crisis, but they also faced an aggravation of conflicts with the parent state (war in Nagorno-Karabakh, clashes on the border of the LPR and DPR, border incidents in South Ossetia, etc.). It was identified that the COVID-19 epidemic has facilitated the isolation of post-Soviet de facto states and exacerbated their dependence on patron states. The spread of COVID-19 has led to an increase in the barrier function of borders with parent states, usually at the initiative of the de facto authorities of states, while the border regime with patron states has not changed much.
pandemic; COVID-19; conflicts; de facto States; Abkhazia; Transnistria; borders; transborder practices.