Information is power in the 21st century and strategic narratives through framing are nowadays regarded as part of the modern armoury of war. States constantly compete to create credible narratives in support of their actions on the international policy arena. After the Crimean crisis in 2014 the world was forced to open its eyes to medias new usage in modern warfare. State funded news agencies play an important role in this recent development and one of the most prominent actors is Russia. This thesis seeks to contribute to the discussion of strategic narratives and framing in the news media through a case study of the Russian news site Sputnik News. The thesis focuses on the news agency’s depiction of five empirical events in which the Swedish and Russian armed forces were involved during 2014 and 2015. A qualitative analysis of 25 news articles discussing the five events has detected proof of pro-Russian framing processes. The aim of Sputnik News seems to be a transformation of the general Swedish frame regarding Russia itself and perhaps more specifically Russia’s recent change in foreign policy.

This diploma thesis analyses the phenomenon of the Russian information warfare targeting the Baltic states - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In five chapters the thesis initially theoretically examines phenomenon of the information warfare itself, specifically its typical components and advantages because of which the Russian Federation uses it. After that, the thesis estimates conceptual preconditions and incentives in the Baltic region due to which Russia implements the information warfare specifically in this region. The information warfare in this sense is understood as the psychological pressure onto the society of Baltics, hence, as one of the tools to enforce the interests and goals of the Kremlin's official foreign policy, because the initiators of such information campaigns are the Russian state media or their proxies. Third, in the empirical part, based the conceptually determined factors and particular events related to them, thesis thoroughly deals with discourses and narratives spread through the Russian and pro-Russian media operating in the Baltic states. More specifically, the analysis conducts research of the content of these narratives, their rhetoric, specific features, context and possible impacts onto the society in the Baltics. The goal of this thesis is to analyse thoroughly...