Online media in armed conflict: a comparative analysis of media coverage of the russian-ukrainian confrontation using the example of a week's coverage of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counteroffensive

This study provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of the discursive strategies employed in covering the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict by leading online socio-political publications in the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The relevance of this work is determined by the key role of digital media in shaping public opinion and national narratives in the context of contemporary information warfare. The theoretical and methodological foundation of the study is a synthesis of key tenets of mediatization theories, which postulate the transformative impact of media on the perception of social reality, and framing, which allows for the identification of stable interpretative schemes that shape audience perceptions of events. An important aspect of this theoretical framework is the consideration of media as an active agent, not simply relaying but also generating political and social meanings. The empirical basis of the study was a representative dataset comprising over 1,500 text materials selected from four key online publications in the two countries for a representative chronological period from May 2 to 8, 2023. To achieve the study's objective, a combined methodology was used, integrating quantitative content analysis aimed at identifying statistically significant frequencies of key themes and lexical markers, as well as qualitative methods—critical discourse analysis and frame analysis—which enabled an in-depth reconstruction of implicit meanings and rhetorical models. The analysis identified and systematized two fundamentally different models of media communication. It was established that the discourse of Ukrainian publications is characterized by the dominance of an emotional-mobilization paradigm, which is implemented through strategies of personification (an emphasis on personal stories and testimonies), the glorification of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the consistent demonization of the opponent, which together form a binary picture of the confrontation. In contrast, Russian publications demonstrate a commitment to a formalized-institutional model, characterized by depersonalized narratives, the use of bureaucratic language, and a legitimizing discourse that emphasizes the legitimacy and validity of state institutions' actions. The findings suggest that the discursive dualism identified is driven not only by opportunistic ideological attitudes but also by fundamental institutional differences in the two countries' media systems, including legal regimes, the degree of state influence, and dominant models of civic identity. Thus, the study's findings support the thesis that, in times of international conflict, media actively construct parallel social realities, each aimed at internally consolidating its audience and legitimizing the respective state's position in the geopolitical arena.

armed conflict, media representation, frame analysis, information strategies, online media, socio-political media, Russia, Ukraine, political journalism, media communications