Russian invasion of Ukraine

Analyzing linguistic means describing the enemy in Ukrainian media

Bibliographic Data

ID4178044
AuthorsAlex Krouglov (0000-0001-7682-1145, School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) , 4919 University College London – Bloomsbury Campus , Gower Street , London , WC1E 6BT , UK, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume2025
Issue293
Pages109-130
Publication date2025-05-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of the Sociology of Language (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0165-2516 • E-ISSN: 1613-3668
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/ijsl-2024-0036
OpenAlexW4409303238
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited36

The current study covers changes in the corpus of the Ukrainian language as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine which began on 24th February 2022. This research addresses the issue of rapidly changing worldviews and attitudes of the Ukrainian people, which have had a direct impact on the development of anti-aggressor narratives and an explosion of various linguistic means in the language when describing the war, the occupiers, and their atrocities committed on the territory of Ukraine. The period since the invasion is characterised by both a boom of neologisms and an expanding use of some lexical items in the mass media of Ukraine. The paper examines articles and news stories in two major Ukrainian information agencies Ukrinform and Unian since 24th February 2022 and their use of specific linguistic means to describe the enemy. The analysis and discussion of the new lexical items and the development of other linguistic means in the Ukrainian language are based on our findings as well as research publications which have appeared since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This research specifically explores how these linguistic means support war narratives in the Ukrainian media when describing the enemy and its actions. The portrayal of the enemy is increasingly pivotal in these narratives, which bolster the Ukrainian people's fight for survival and territorial integrity

Adversary · Linguistics · Political science · Russian language · Sociology · Ukrainian · Computer Science · European and Russian Geopolitical Military Strategies · European Politics and Security · Military, Security, and Education Studies · Philosophy