Strategic narratives are vital for states to frame issues, goals, and preferences to convey a rationale for military actions in global conflicts. Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, coupled with the rise of Telegram as an independent information platform, has fostered the rise of military bloggers within the Kremlin-controlled media ecosystem. This thesis explores the role and functioning of these military bloggers in shaping strategic narratives during the Russo-Ukraine war. To do so, the thesis compares three critical junctures in the war as case studies using a mixed-methods approach. The thesis has found that milblogs operate within a pre-determined strategic narrative framework outlined by the Kremlin. The findings further indicate that while operating within this frame, the Telegram operators have the capacity to shape strategic narratives and, at times, are the driving force behind the official narrative production. The study provides new insights into the Russian information environment by shedding light on the milbloggers' roles as legitimators, amplifiers, and, at times, opposition. While de-monopolizing the information environment to include milbloggers has served the Kremlin well so far in the war, giving up power might pose severe problems for the Kremlin in the future, potentially impacting the outcome of the war in the long run.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mau-68542 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Richter, Johan |
| Publisher | Malmö universitet, Institutionen för globala politiska studier (GPS) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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