Media events on Instagram during wartime: The case of Zelenskyy’s posts

An analysis of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s Instagram before and after the outbreak of the Russia–Ukraine War indicates that the wartime leader generated media events on the platform. The findings point to the expansion of media events—traditionally rooted in television—into digital spaces. These events also exhibited characteristics of a recent type—disruptive media events: they were subordinated to conflictual functions; marked by a traumatic, unwelcome, unscripted nature; led by the establishment (the president); impacted by anti-establishment agencies (Russia); and mediated by a non-television medium (Instagram). The routine eventization and urgent, frequent uploads of the president’s wartime activities embodied marathon-type coverage and liveness—further characteristics of disruptive media events. Regarding audience effects, these Instagram events attracted high user engagement and global media attention, aiming to ease trauma and restore solidarity. The observed emergence of platform-based events reaffirms the continued relevance of media event theory in wartime digital media environments.