Authors

Discussion

Even before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, one could find many pro-Russia telegram channels which covered the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. These telegram channels generally belong to local and federal mass media, war correspondents, or war and civil volunteers. And although not all these pro-Russia channels were orchestrated by the Kremlin, leaving a limited but still existing space for independent discourse and criticism of the Kremlin’s policies towards Ukraine, they nevertheless unanimously contribute to the gradual dehumanization and enemization of Ukraine and its allies. After February 2022, this phenomenon has intensified and become a part of Russia’s propaganda efforts in informational warfare against Ukraine and its allies. In addition, the role of pro-war telegram channels has increased as they remain one of the few relatively censorship-free media platforms for the Russian population. Therefore, academia should enhance research on this important social media if we want to enrich our knowledge of Russian propaganda and its strategies in the information space. 

This study aims to fill this gap by building a dataset of enemy frames of the Ukrainian army and civilians, as well as foreign combatants and non-combatants fighting and volunteering in Ukraine. The data is collected from several pro-war Russian telegram channels, including both loyal to the Kremlin and more critical of the Kremlin’s approaches to the war. To explore the evolution of the enemy frames through the whole full-scale war with Ukraine, the study addresses specific events of the war, such as the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia’s partial withdrawal from northern and eastern Ukraine in April 2022, partial mobilisation in Russia in September and October 2022, and Ukraine’s failed counter-offensive. Once collected, these frames are analysed to reveal the strategic evolution of Russian enemy propaganda, shaped by shifts on the battlefield and domestic political developments.