Messaging strategies of Ukraine and Russia on Telegram during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Abstract

The popularity of the instant messaging app Telegram in Ukraine and Russia was already high before the still-ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, since 24 February 2022 (when the Russian invasion began), it has seen huge increases in subscribers and has even become the primary communication and news source in Ukraine. In this exploratory research, we analyzed Telegram channels from both Ukraine (@UkraineNow — the official channel of the Ukrainian government, and @V_Zelenskiy_official — the official channel of Volodymyr Zelenskyy) and Russia (@rt_russian — the official channel of the news network RT) to understand communication patterns in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Our analysis of 37,172 posts showed that while @UkraineNow is being used in particular to communicate invasion-related news, @rt_russian is working as a mere extension of RT, which is part of the pro-Kremlin propaganda and disinformation ecosystem. However, Zelenskyy has opted for a completely different approach: he is using his Telegram channel to encourage Ukrainians and to garner support from the world. Thousands have lost their lives and millions have become refugees in this war that has now gone on for more than a year. Our timely research seeks to determine how both countries’ governments utilize Telegram as a weapon in an information war and the impact of this information war on the ground.