A Comparative Study of Putin and Zelenskyy's Discourses in Speeches During War Between Russia and Ukraine

Abstract

In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and 8 years later launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The invasion took place on the 24th of February 2022 and on the same day, president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin gave an extensive speech to the Russian people. A speech that was translated into English and published on his government’s official website. The speech included a direct threat from Putin to anyone who wanted to interfere. Today, two years later, the war between Ukraine and Russia is still ongoing. Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has addressed his nation through daily video updates but he has also given speeches to international institutions such as NATO and EU and nations around the world, pleading for their support in the war. This research investigates Putin’s speech from the 24th of February 2022, a speech from Zelenskyy to US Congress on the 16th of March 2022, Putin’s new year’s speech from December 31st, 2023, and Zelenskyy’s new year’s speech from December 31st, 2023. The speeches are analyzed through theory and methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis. This research uses the three-dimensional approach to Critical Discourse Analysis by key author, Norman Fairclough, within the field, and combining it with a modern approach to Critical Discourse Analysis by David Machin and Andrea Mayr by taking visual semiotics into account through a multi modal approach. Analysis of each of the four speeches are then investigated further in a comparative analysis, which finds Putin and Zelenskyy having several similarities in their use of both visual- and rhetorical tools. It also finds similarities in some of the discourses presented, and that they both use specific discourse to gather support or create unity and alliances from their respective audiences, whether it be the Russian people, US Congress or the Ukrainian people. Furthermore, the study finds a significant difference in how the speakers frame the outside world through discourse. Putin discursively creates the West and the outside world as an enemy to Russia and attempts to exclude them from the war through direct threat. Zelenskyy continuously attempts to create and strengthen alliances and relations with the outside world, whether it be another nation or a powerful institution to include them in the war and plead for them to take action and interfere to support Ukraine. The comparative, critical discourse analysis of speeches by Putin and Zelenskyy held during the war between their respective countries reveal their hidden agendas, as well as issues, while it shows how they use rhetorical and visual strategies to legitimize the actions they take in the war.

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A master thesis from Aalborg University

A Comparative Study of Putin and Zelenskyy's Discourses in Speeches During War Between Russia and Ukraine

[Et komparativt studie af Putin og Zelenskyys diskurser i taler under krigen mellem Rusland og Ukraine]