(De)legitimization strategies of Russia’s war against Ukraine: a case study of Russian television programs

Abstract

Television plays a central role for the Putin regime in legitimizing the current war against Ukraine. This article analyzes how the war against Ukraine was officially legitimized on Russian state television in the first year since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. As a counterweight to this official discourse, the article also examines how the last independent and exiled TV channel, Dozhd′ (TV Rain), attempts to delegitimize the narratives disseminated by the state media. Drawing on the legitimization strategies theory by Theo Van Leeuwen and Antonio Reyes, the study qualitatively analyzes selected TV broadcasts. The focus is on whether and which (de)legitimization strategies can be found on Russian (state) television. The results demonstrate that legitimization strategies are omnipresent on state television and that visual and verbal information is used both to emphasize official statements and to affect viewers emotionally. Furthermore, the study reveals the repetitive nature of legitimization strategies on Russian state television and thus identifies legitimization as an essential component of manipulative political persuasion, that is, state propaganda.

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