Texts that prepared aggression: Manipulative strategies of Ukraine's enemies

Abstract

Introduction. Over the past decades, the Ukrainian information space has been actively shaped by texts of political figures who employed linguistic tools of covert influence to transform public consciousness. Of particular importance are the publications of viktor medvedchuk, viktor yanukovych, and dmytro tabachnyk, written between 1999 and 2008, as they formed the ideological foundation for the development of anti-Ukrainian narratives later used during Russia's information aggression against Ukraine.

Methods. The selected material includes four public texts: “Ukraine: Topical Issues of the Development of Society, State, and Law” (1999) by viktor medvedchuk, “… And a Year in Power” (2007) by viktor yanukovych, and “Ukraine in NATO or NATO in Ukraine” (2008) by dmytro tabachnyk. The study applies a linguocognitive analysis, discourse-pragmatic approach, and qualitative content analysis to identify typical strategies of linguistic manipulation.

Results. The research reveals a systematic use of suggestive techniques, emotional framing, appeals to historical trauma, fear, and the construction of an external enemy. The texts feature metaphorization, dichotomies, overgeneralizations, rhetorical questions, appeals to authority, normative assertions, dysphemisms toward opponents, and the glorification of certain political alliances and concepts. The discourse aims to generate a sense of non-alternative interpretations, weaken critical thinking, and promote specific ideological directions. A typical strategy involves legitimizing views through expressions of objectivity and abstract designations. In several instances, the authors construct artificially framed realities that distort perceptions of socio-political processes.

Conclusion. The analyzed publications demonstrate persistent patterns of informational influence, which, operating long before Russia's open aggression, served a preparatory function for the acceptance of hostile narratives. The findings confirm the necessity of further investigation into internal sources of information-based destabilization and the development of tools for detecting manipulative linguistic strategies in public discourse.

Information about the author:

Taras Holota – Postgraduate student at the Department of Ukrainian Language and Applied Linguistics, Educational and Scientific Institute of Philology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

E-mail: taras.holota@knu.ua