Legitimation Strategies Used in the Media Propaganda of the Kremlin Strategic Narratives on Ukraine Since 2014

• In Event: Reflecting Russia's War Against Ukraine: Discourses, Memes, and Media

Abstract

The present work is aiming to trace the background of the war discourse, constructed by
the authoritarian Kremlin regime which has become the foundation of the war in Ukraine.
This discourse, widely presented to the internal audience in Russia, has been developed
and implemented for many years and has been an integral part of the Kremlin strategic
narratives in Putin's era. This long-term information war may have given ground for the real
war, legitimating it in the eyes of the audience.
Tackling "internal" legitimation, I analyze the statements of Czech president Milos Zeman
quoted by Russian Kremlin actors and pro-Kremlin media as well as the ‚framing‘ they create
for these statements. For the constructed pro-Kremlin discourses I apply the four-part discursive model of legitimation by van Leuween: 1) ‘authorization’; 2) ‘moral evaluation’; 3)
rationalization; 4) mythopoesis.
The analysis shows that Zeman employs all four strategies in his pro-Russian rhetoric. If we
sum up Zeman’s statements, as a result Zeman supported the Kremlin narratives on
Khruschev’s mistake with Crimea, on Ukraine as a weak state, on civil war in Ukraine, on Nazis in modern Ukraine, and on Western double standards towards Kosovo and Ukraine.
These constructed narratives were used by the Kremlin internally and might have worked for the idea of historical revenge (resentiment) and restoring historical justice through the war.
The pro-Russian rhetoric of Zeman was used by the Kremlin and pro-Kremlin actors to present an image of an old-school experienced wise politician, the president of the EU and NATO state, who is sincere and brave enough to express respect to Russia and criticize the West. Zeman’s pro-Russian rhetoric was incorporated to rhetorically strengthen the impression of the weak and immoral West where there are few leaders understanding and telling the truth.
The narrative of Russian world dominance through its historical rightness, its great culture and its economical attractiveness as well as through the alleged illegitimacy of the West,
was constructed with the help of Zeman's rhetoric for the legitimation of Putin’s regime and its policy.

Author

• Anna Plisetskaya, Charles U in Prague (Czech Republic)