Russian Discursive Transits in the Context of the Russo-Ukrainian War
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.23.2026.101.12Keywords:
conflict, media, the discourse of hostility, Russian aggression, war in Ukraine, information sovereigntyAbstract
The article analyzes the contemporary aspects of discursive transit that the Russian regime performs in the context of the need to legitimate its war effort during the crisis of domestic media. This paper attempts to study the problem of which patterns of the discourse of hostility the Russian regime seeks to transfer into Western media discourse on the Russian war in Ukraine to legitimize it. The study of the interview of Vladimir Putin with Tucker Carlson was performed using discourse analysis methods. The interview was studied as an example of the discursive transit of the Russian wartime hostility discourse into the Western media sphere to gain sympathy and legitimize the war course. This problem is relevant in the context of contemporary qualitative political communication research, in understanding the core ideas that the Russian wartime discourse built. This moment is especially interesting in light of the EU-Ukraine cooperation and the constant development of the EU legislation in media regulation and security.
References
Akbaba S., “Re-narrating Europe in the Face of Populism: An Analysis of the Anti-immigration Discourse of Populist Party Leaders,” Insight Turkey, vol. 20, no. 3 (2018), pp. 199-218, https://doi.org/10.25253/99.2018203.14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25253/99.2018203.14
Alonso-Trabanco J.M., “The Hidden Meaning(s) of Tucker Carlson’s Putin Interview,” Modern Diplomacy, 19 February 2024, at https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2024/02/19/the-hidden-meanings-of-tucker-carlsons-putin-interview/.
Atkinson J.M., Heritage J., Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis, Cambridge 1984.
Barnes C., “Citizen Journalism vs. Traditional Journalism: A Case for Collaboration,” Caribbean Quarterly, vol. 58, no. 2/3 (2012), pp. 16-27, https://doi.org/10.1080/00086495.2012.11672440. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00086495.2012.11672440
Brusylovska O., Maksymenko I., “Analysis of the Media Discourse on the 2022 War in Ukraine: The Case of Russia,” Regional Science Policy & Practice, vol. 15, no. 1 (2023), pp. 222-236, https://doi.org/10.1111/rsp3.12579. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/rsp3.12579
Caldeira S.P., De Ridder S., Van Bauwel S., “Exploring the Politics of Gender Representation on Instagram: Self-representations of Femininity,” DiGeSt. Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, vol. 5, no. 1 (2018), pp. 23-42, https://doi.org/10.11116/digest.5.1.2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11116/digest.5.1.2
Carlson. T., Exclusive: Tucker Carlson Interviews Vladimir Putin, 6 February 2024, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOCWBhuDdDo.
Cordesman A. H., Hwang G., “The Ukraine War: Preparing for the Longer-Term Outcome,” [report], Center for Strategic and International Studies, 14 April 2022, at https://www.csis.org/analysis/ukraine-war-preparing-longer-term-outcome.
Coser L., The Functions of the Social Conflict, New York 1956.
Dahrendorf R., Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society, Stanford 1959.
Darcy O., “Putin Walks Away with Propaganda Victory after Tucker Carlson’s Softball Interview,” CNN, 8 February 2024, at https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/08/media/vladimirputin-tucker-carlson-interview-reliable-sources/index.html.
“Die Putin-Verstehen-Show,” Tagesschau, 9 February 2024, at https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/putin-interview-108.html.
van Dijk T.A., “Critical Discourse Analysis,” in D. Tannen, D. Schiffrin, H. Hamilton (eds), Handbook of Discourse Analysis, Oxford 2001, pp. 352-371.
van Dijk T.A., Discourse and Context: A Sociocognitive Approach, Cambridge 2008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511481499
van Dijk T.A., Discourse and Power: Contributions to Critical Discourse Studies , Basingstoke–New York 2008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-07299-3
van Dijk T.A., “Discourse and the Denial of Racism,” Discourse & Society, vol. 3, no. 1 (1992), pp. 87-118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926592003001005
van Dijk T.A., Ideology: A Multidisciplinary Approach, London–Thousands Oaks 1998.
Eco U., Cinque scritti morali, [Five Moral Essays], Saint Petersburg 2003.
Ericson R.V., “How Journalists Visualize Fact,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 560 (1998), pp. 83-95, https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716298560001007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716298560001007
Faesen L., Sweijs T., Klimburg A., MacNamara C., Mazarr M., “Case Study: Responding to Russian Disinformation in Peacetime,” in L. Faesen, T. Sweijs, A. Klimburg, C. MacNamara, M. Mazarr (eds), From Blurred Lines to Red Lines: How Countermeasures and Norms Shape Hybrid Conflict, Hague 2020, pp. 16-31.
Fairclough N., Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language, London 1995.
Frederick B., Charap S., Boston S., Flanagan S.J., Mazarr M.J., Moroney J.D.P., Mueller K.P., “Pathways to Russian Escalation Against NATO from the Ukraine War,” RAND Corporation Perspectives, July 2022, at https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/perspectives/PEA1900/PEA1971-1/RAND_PEA1971-1.pdf.
Freeden M., “Crisis? How Is That a Crisis?!: Reflections on an Overburdened Word,” Contributions to the History of Concepts, vol. 12, no. 2 (2017), pp. 12-28, https://doi.org/10.3167/choc.2017.120202. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/choc.2017.120202
Friedrichs D.O., “The Legitimacy Crisis in the United States: A Conceptual Analysis,” Social Problems, vol. 27, no. 5 (1980), pp. 540-555, https://doi.org/10.2307/800195. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.1980.27.5.03a00040
Galtung J., “Violence, Peace, and Peace Research,” Journal of Peace Research, vol. 6, no. 3 (1969), pp. 167-191, https://doi.org/10.1177/002234336900600301. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002234336900600301
Galtung J., Holmboe Ruge M., “The Structure of Foreign News: The Presentation of the Congo, Cuba and Cyprus Crises in Four Norvegian Newspapers,” Journal of Peace Research, vol. 2, no. 1 (1965), pp. 64-90, https://doi.org/10.1177/002234336500200104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002234336500200104
Gee J.P., An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method, New York 1999.
Gounari P., “Authoritarianism, Discourse and Social Media: Trump as the ‘American Agitator’,” in J. Morelock (ed.), Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism, vol. 9, London 2018, pp. 207-227. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16997/book30.j
Guriev S., Treisman S., “How Modern Dictators Survive: An Informational Theory of the New Authoritarianism,” NBER Working Papers No. 21136, National Bureau of Economic Research, April 2015, https://doi.org/10.3386/w21136. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3386/w21136
Habermas J., “What Does a Crisis Mean Today? Legitimation Problems in Late Capitalism,” Social Research, vol. 40, no. 4 (1973), pp. 643-667, https://www.jstor.org/stable/40970159.
Harris Z.S., “Discourse Analysis,” Language, vol. 28, no. 1 (1952), reprint in J.A. Fodor, J.J. Katz (eds), The Structure of Language: Readings in the Philosophy of Language, New Jersey 1946, pp. 355-383.
Härtel A., “Die Handlungsfähigkeit der EU im Ukrainekonflikt,” in A. Heinemann-Grüder, C. Crawford, T.B. Peters (eds), Lehren aus dem Ukrainekonflikt: Krisen vorbeugen, Gewalt verhindern*, Belin–Toronto 2022, pp. 203-222. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv25wxccp.13
Hartog E., Goryashko S., “Tucker Carlson’s Putin Interview: 9 takeaways,” Politico, 9 February 2024, at https://www.politico.eu/article/9-takeaway-vladimir-putin-interview-tucker-carlson/.
Heath J., “A Defence of Stigmatization,” in Cooperation and Social Justice, Toronto 2022, pp. 163-199. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/9781487538521-007
Higashijima M., “A Theory of Autocratic Elections,” in The Dictator’s Dilemma at the Ballot Box: Electoral Manipulation, Economic Maneuvering, and Political Order in Autocracies, Ann Arbor 2022, pp. 32-74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11978139
Hogue S., “De cyberguerre à guerre TikTok: mobilisation de la participation numérique dans l’effort de guerre ukrainien,” in D. Simonyi, F. Côté (eds), Le Canada à l’aune de la guerre en Ukraine: penser la sécurité et la défense dans un monde en émergence, Sainte-Foy 2024, pp. 165-184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.11064724.13
Housiaux A., “Existentialism and Instagram,” The Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 101, no. 4 (2019), pp. 48-51, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26861455. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721719892975
Institute for Economics & Peace, Global Peace Index 2021: Measuring Peace in a Complex World, [report], Sydney, June 2021, at http://visionofhumanity.org/reports.
Institute for Economics & Peace, Global Peace Index 2022: Measuring Peace in a Complex World, [report], Sydney, June 2022, at http://visionofhumanity.org/resources.
Janks H., “Critical Discourse Analysis as a Research Tool,” Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, vol. 18, no. 3 (1997), pp. 329-342, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0159630970180302. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0159630970180302
Jolicoeur P., Seaboyer A., “L’intelligence artificielle russe comme outil de désinformation et de déception en Ukraine,” in D. Simonyi, F. Côté (eds), Le Canada à l’aune de la guerre en Ukraine: penser la sécurité et la défense dans un monde en émergence, Sainte-Foy 2024, pp. 143-164. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.11064724.12
Kalenský J., Osadchuk R., How Ukraine Fights Russian Disinformation: Beehive vs. Mammoth, Helsinki, 24 January 2024, at https://dfrlab.org/2024/01/24/how-ukraine-fights-russian-disinformation-beehive-vs-mammoth/.
Kennedy H., Weber W., Engebretsen M., “Data Visualization and Transparency in the News,” in H. Kennedy, M. Engebretsen (eds), Data Visualization in Society, Amsterdam 2020, pp. 169-185. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvzgb8c7.17
Koselleck R., Critique and Crisis: Enlightenment and the Pathogenesis of Modern Society, Cambridge 1988.
Koselleck R., Richter M.W., “Crisis,” Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 67, no. 2 (2006), pp. 357-400, https://doi.org/10.1353/jhi.2006.0013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/jhi.2006.0013
Lecomte A., Marandin J.M., “Analyse du discours et morphologie discursive,” in Research in Text Connexity and Text Coherence: A Survey, Hamburg 1986, pp. 61-100.
Leighninger M., “Can Journalists Use New Technologies to Build a Trusting, Sustaining Relationship with Their Audiences?,” National Civic Review, vol. 112, no. 4 (2024), pp. 17-22, https://www.jstor.org/stable/48756015.
Libman A., “A New Economic Cold War? The Future of the Global Economy After the War in Ukraine,” Horizons: Journal of International Relations and Sustainable Development, no. 21 (2022), pp. 148-159, https://www.jstor.org/stable/48686704.
Locoman E., Lau R.R., “Narratives of Conflict: Russian Media’s Evolving Treatment of Ukraine (2013-2022),” Media, War & Conflict, vol. 18, no. 3 (2024), pp. 325-347, https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352241257053. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352241257053
Maingueneau D., Nouvelles tendances en analyse du discours, Paris 1987.
McLaughlin G., “Journalism, Objectivity and War,” in The War Correspondent, London 2016, pp. 33-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26530/OAPEN_605051
Menkiszak M., “Why War Came to Ukraine,” in Russia’s Long War on Ukraine, German Marshall Fund of the United States, 1 February 2016, pp. 2-8, https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep19013.4.
Michailidou A., Trenz H.J., “The Media as Public Intermediaries of Knowledge in Europe: From Deliberation to Democratic Legitimation,” in The Media as Public Intermediaries of Knowledge in Europe, London 2017, pp. 171-191. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315268033-10
Polovyi, M., “Exploitation of the Right to Freedom of Expression for Promoting Pro-Russian Propaganda in Hybrid War,” Politeja, vol. 18, no. 2 (71) (2021), pp. 171-182, https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.18.2021.71.09. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.18.2021.71.09
President of Russia, “Interview to Tucker Carlson,” 9 February 2024, at http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73411.
“Putin Interview with Tucker Carlson Shows Kremlin Outreach to Trump’s GOP,” The Washington Post, 7 February 2024 at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/07/tucker-carlson-putin-russia-ukraine/.
Sadof K.D., “Finding a Visual Voice: The #Euromaidan Impact on Ukrainian Instagram Users,” in U.U. Frömming, S. Köhn, S. Fox, M. Terry (eds), Digital Environments: Ethnographic Perspectives Across Global Online and Offline Spaces, Bielefeld 2017, pp. 239-250. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839434970-017
Sebba M., “Discourses in Transit,” in A. Jaworski, C. Thurlow (eds), Semiotic Landscapes: Language, Image, Space, London 2010, pp. 59-76.
Simmel G., “The Sociology of Conflict: I,” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 9, no. 4 (1904), pp. 490-525, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2762175. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/211234
Sullivan M., “Tucker Carlson’s Putin Interview Wasn’t Journalism. It Was Sycophancy,” The Guardian, 9 February 2024, at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/09/tucker-carlson-putin-interview-journalism-sycophancy.
Trufanov G. “The European Integration as a Strategic Source for the Ukrainian Democratic Media and the EU in Countering Russian Propaganda,” Journal of Advanced Military Studies, vol. 16, no. 1 (2025), pp. 109-132, https://doi.org/10.21140/mcuj.20251601006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21140/mcuj.20251601006
Trufanov G.А., “Governmental Control Over Information Distribution as a Basis of the Social Conflict,” Konfliktologia, vol. 14, no. 3 (2019), pp. 207-221.
Tucker M.S., “Objectivity – Does It Exist?,” ETC: A Review of General Semantics, vol. 69, no. 4 (2012), pp. 413-424.
Vock I., “Tucker Carlson Interview: Fact-checking Putin’s ‘nonsense’ History,” BBC, 9 February 2024, at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68255302.
Vogt R., “Zwei Modelle zur Analyse von Diskursen,” in Über die Schwierigkeiten der Verständigung beim Reden: Beiträge zur Linguistik des Diskurses, Opladen 1987, pp. 17-37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-322-83816-2
Waldherr A., “The Mass Media as Actors in Innovation Systems,” in J. Bauer, A. Lang, V. Schneider (eds), Innovation Policy and Governance in High-Tech Industries, Berlin–Heidelberg 2012, pp. 77-100. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12563-8_4
Wiatr J.J., “Autocratic Leaders in Modern Times,” in Political Leadership Between Democracy and Authoritarianism: Comparative and Historical Perspectives, Leverkusen–Opladen–Berlin–Toronto 2022, pp. 74-116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv27tctmb.8
“Wie russische Medien Putins Interview feiern,” ZDFheute, 2024, at https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/ausland/carlson-putin-interview-propaganda-sieg-russland-100.html.
Wilde G., Sherman J., “Russian Information Doctrine Under Putin,” in No Water’s Edge: Russia’s Information War and Regime Security, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 4 January 2023, pp. 6-12, at https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2023/01/nowaters-edge-russias-information-war-and-regime-security?lang=en.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Gleb Trufanov
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
