Guerra e propaganda: as estratégias de comunicação de Volodymyr Zelensky no conflito russo-ucraniano

Abstract

This paper analyzes the discursive practices and digital public communication strategies adopted by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, on the platforms Instagram and X within the context of the armed conflict with Russia. Grounded in the constructivist approach to International Relations, specifically drawing from Alexander Wendt’s theoretical formulations on the co-constitution between identities and interests, this research investigates how the digital ecosystem operates as an active ideational structure capable of influencing the grammar of global power. Through a descriptive empirical analysis of institutional posts, the study examines the formulation of the Ukrainian national Self associated with democratic values, as well as the characterization of the invading Other as a unilateral threat that is resistant to multilateral dialogue. Furthermore, it evaluates the concept of digital altercasting as a mechanism of normative constraint that shifts the debate from closed offices to the tribunal of transnational public opinion. The results demonstrate that the disintermediation of social networks and the use of features such as collaborative publications and multilingual captions operate as multipliers of soft power and international influence. It concludes that Ukrainian digital communication converts the civil societies of Western powers into watchdog agents of their own traditional chancelleries, constraining partner governments to maintain logistical, financial, and military support under penalty of incurring severe domestic political costs, which consolidates the manipulation of informational flows as an indispensable systemic power resource for the preservation of state sovereignty in the information age.