Myth, Identity and Strategy : Russian Strategic Narratives on Ukrainian politics

In the context of governmental discourse, strategic narratives are a central part of pushing forward ideas, values and policies. This thesis concerns specifically how the Russian government formats strategic narratives around Ukrainian domestic politics through online platforms between the years 2000 and 2024. The analysis will be conducted with data collected from the online platforms of the Kremlin and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (M.I.D). This study draws on two categorizations of strategic narratives formatted by Roselle et al. and Wagnsson & Barzanje in order to more accurately specify what types of narratives the Russian government have constructed around Ukrainian politics. The narratives were identified through a thematic analysis method formatted by King & Horrocks. A framing theory as formatted by Entman is also utilized to further distill what pictures the narratives paint. The study identified that both the Kremlin’s and the M.I.D’s narratives on Ukraines domestic politics changed over time, although in slightly different ways. The Kremlin started with a more neutral status quo and the M.I.D had a harsher tone from the start. Both institutions however turned towards more negative narratives as time progressed. The analysis also concluded that the most common narratives present in Russian discourse around Ukrainian politics were of the destructive and suppressive nature. These can be determined as the two most offensive and fierce narrative models present in the studie’s selection. The results of this thesis might contribute to a deeper understanding of the development of how the current Russian government relates to Ukraine.