Evolution of wartime discourse on Telegram: A comparative study of Ukrainian and Russian policymakers' communication before and after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine

2025-10-11

AI Summary

This study investigates the mechanisms underlying wartime discourse evolution among Ukrainian and Russian policymakers on Telegram before and after the 2022 invasion. Addressing a gap in cross-national, real-time conflict communication research, we construct an original dataset of 2019–2024 public posts by senior officials from both countries. Applying computational text analysis, dynamic topic modeling, and temporal trend analysis, we conduct the first systematic comparative study of wartime digital rhetoric across adversarial states. Results reveal divergent strategic adaptations: Ukraine’s Telegram activity surged post-invasion, shifting from initial war-centered narratives toward increasingly heterogeneous thematic framing; Russia, by contrast, deliberately pivoted discourse toward non-military topics—such as Western economic crises—reflecting institutionalized information manipulation. These findings illuminate distinct pathways of political communication adaptation and discursive resilience under differing regime types, offering novel empirical evidence and a methodological framework for studying conflict communication in the digital age.

Technology Category

• Natural Language Processing: Discourse, Pragmatics & Argument Mining
• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Game Theory and Economic Paradigms: Adversarial Learning

Application Category

• Social Networks and Social Media: Media and governance, opinion dynamics, filter bubbles, polarization
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Topic discovery and tracking
• Responsible Web: Mitigating misinformation and disinformation

Abstract

This study examines elite-driven political communication on Telegram during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, the first large-scale European war in the social media era. Using a unique dataset of Telegram public posts from Ukrainian and Russian policymakers (2019-2024), we analyze changes in communication volume, thematic content, and actor engagement following Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion. Our findings show a sharp increase in Telegram activity after the invasion, particularly among ruling-party policymakers. Ukrainian policymakers initially focused on war-related topics, but this emphasis declined over time In contrast, Russian policymakers largely avoided war-related discussions, instead emphasizing unrelated topics, such as Western crises, to distract public attention. We also identify differences in communication strategies between large and small parties, as well as individual policymakers. Our findings shed light on how policymakers adapt to wartime communication challenges and offer critical insights into the dynamics of online political discourse during times of war.

Problem

• Analyzing wartime communication changes on Telegram before and after invasion
• Comparing Ukrainian and Russian policymakers' thematic content and engagement strategies
• Examining how political actors adapt messaging during large-scale conflict

Innovation

• Analyzed Telegram posts from policymakers
• Compared communication volume and thematic changes
• Identified wartime distraction strategies in discourse