Memorial on Independence Square in Kyiv, February 24, 2025. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

Memorial on Independence Square in Kyiv, February 24, 2025. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

Peer-reviewed articles Historical analogies in the Ukrainian media discourse at the time of war Framing stories about national resistance, international support, and crimes of the occupation army

This article provides an overview of the historical parallels used in the Ukrainian media discourse reflecting the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict in the period from February 2022 to February 2025. The research highlights the role of analogy frames in depicting wartime dynamics, internal processes of national consolidation, and the search for international solutions to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty. Networks of analogies in media discourse, characteristic of Ukrainian political culture, are considered as a means of conceptualizing major components of the war scenario, in particular strategies of the military campaign, crimes against civilians and prisoners of war, and legal initiatives to hold the aggressor accountable. From a functional perspective, comparative resources in the wartime media are analyzed as a tool that supports basic cognitive and psychological needs of society members, such as confronting the challenges of a traumatic environment and searching for solutions under conditions of hostile activity.

Published in the printed edition of Baltic Worlds BW 2025:2, pp 32-48
Published on balticworlds.com on September 23, 2025

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abstract

This article provides an overview of the historical parallels used in the Ukrainian media discourse reflecting the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict in the period from February 2022 to February 2025. The research highlights the role of analogy frames in depicting wartime dynamics, internal processes of national consolidation, and the search for international solutions to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty. Networks of analogies in media discourse, characteristic of Ukrainian political culture, are considered as a means of conceptualizing major components of the war scenario, in particular strategies of the military campaign, crimes against civilians and prisoners of war, and legal initiatives to hold the aggressor accountable. From a functional perspective, comparative resources in the wartime media are analyzed as a tool that supports basic cognitive and psychological needs of society members, such as confronting the challenges of a traumatic environment and searching for solutions under conditions of hostile activity.

KEYWORDS: Analogy, frame, scenario, public discourse, analysis of conflict.

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Lyudmyla Payluk et al

  • by Lyudmyla Payluk et al

    Lyudmyla Pavlyuk is an Associate Professor at the Department of Journalism, the New Media Chair, at Lviv Ivan Franko National University. Natalia Gabor is an Associate Professor and Head of the Chair at the Department of Journalism, the New Media Chair, at Lviv Ivan Franko National University. Yuliana Lavrysh is an Associate Professor at the Department of Journalism, the New Media Chair, at Lviv Ivan Franko National University.

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