The language of power or the power of language?

Abstract In the study, the discursive construction of political leadership was examined in the daily addresses by President Zelensky to Ukrainian people during two months of the Russian invasion of Ukraine: in March 2022 and March 2023. The research employs traditional tools of Critical Discourse Analysis, supplemented by quantitative methods, namely, the psychometric procedures offered by LIWC. Political leadership was researched as a discursive construct built intentionally and interactively by means of various linguistic resources: lexical, grammatical, and stylistic. It was shown that political leaders create their public identities in accordance with the encompassing socio-political conditions, pragmatically and psycholinguistically adapting their performances to the needs and wants of their audiences. The analysis of President Zelensky’s daily speeches at the early stages of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine enabled us to determine the main linguistic features and communicative strategies characteristic of the discursive behavior of a political leader in times of crisis.