Constructing the past, justifying the war: The analysis of selected Vladimir Putin speeches (2021–2024)
Constructing the past, justifying the war: The analysis of selected Vladimir Putin speeches (2021–2024)

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines the dominant tendencies in V. Putin’s official discourse concerning the Russo-Ukrainian war, arguing that language serves as a key tool in legitimising state policies and shaping public perceptions of war. Employing a hybrid CDA–content approach, the study identifies key discursive strategies, topoi, and recurring narrative patterns, capturing both the structural and repetitive dimensions of the discourse. The study focuses on Putin’s speeches delivered between 2021 and 2024, spanning the year leading up to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine through the end of his fourth presidential term. The analysis reveals that these speeches combine commemorative and propagandistic elements to reinterpret the Soviet World War II legacy, portraying Russia as the rightful heir to the victory over Nazism while depicting the West as historically revisionist and inherently hostile. Within this framework, the Russo-Ukrainian war is framed as a continuation of the Great Patriotic War, with Russian soldiers cast as heirs to Soviet liberators and traditional values such as patriotism, unity, and endurance revived through World War II references.

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