The Role of Discourse Analysis in Justifying Military Action: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Russian and Ukrainian Official Statements
Journal: The Creative Launcher
Year: 2025

This paper examines how political discourse is used to justify military action in the Russia-Ukraine war through a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of official statements by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Vladimir Putin. Drawing on Fairclough’s (1995) three-dimensional model and van Dijk’s (2006) Ideological Square, the study analyzes the linguistic and rhetorical strategies employed to construct legitimacy, assign blame, and assert moral authority. The findings reveal that Zelensk