Russia's @RT_Com Twitter campaign supporting the 2022 Ukraine invasion: A rhetorical analysis

Abstract

The centrality of information and communicative processes in influencing and contributing to the beliefs held in a populous has, historically, made the media one of the key networks of power and influence in society. The rapid expansion of social media platforms has revolutionized how media power is wielded to influence how political, economic, and social issues are mobilized, understood, and addressed. Understanding how this process occurs is, thus, important, but methods for achieving this understanding continue to evolve. This article draws on a large corpus of material (2473 Tweets and associated metadata) produced by the Russian state media Twitter account, @RT_Com, as one part of a broader campaign to influence the Western response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. We identified five overarching narratives that @RT_Com developed to influence its target audience: No Russian invasion; the West is threatening Russian security; Ukraine is part of Russia; Russia will utilize nuclear weapons to protect its sovereignty; and economic, political, and social insecurity in the West. Drawing on Aristotle's rhetorical framework, this article presents a process analysis to understand how these narratives were developed into means of persuasion. The findings provide new insights into the processes of persuasion in contemporary society.