Rhetorical Evaluation of Vladimir Putin’s ‘Declaration of War on Ukraine’

This article critically examines Vladimir Putin’s “Declaration of War on Ukraine” using Reisigl and Wodak’s Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA) to explore how Putin employs rhetorical strategies to legitimize the war against Ukraine. The findings reveal that Putin strategically uses nomination, predication, argumentation, perspectivization, and intensification strategies to construct an ideologically polarized geopolitical reality and justify the conflict. He primarily relies on building a leadership ethos, constructing an enemy identity for Ukraine and NATO, and framing the war as a “Special Military Operation.” This research contributes to a broader understanding of how politicians use language to shape public perception and legitimacy.