Beschreibung
This book provides a systematic overview of hostile rhetoric on state-controlled Russian TV and shows how it laid the foundation for the Russian publics widespread acceptance of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. It reveals the strategies behind the Kremlin-directed television coverage of the Euromaidan, Russias occupation of Crimea, and the first five months of the war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine and demonstrates that, already in 2013-14, the hostile portrayal, dehumanization, and demonization of Ukraine was omnipresent on Russian TV. After a nuanced discussion of the concept of the enemy, the author compares the construction of enemies by the Russian states major international and internal broadcasters - RT (Russia Today) and Channel One. The findings show that both channels purposefully elicited fear and hatred towards Ukraine and Western countries in their audiences. Notably, Channel Onelesser known within the Western pundits communitywas more extreme and radical in its coverage than the globally known RT channel. To provide a broader context, Shestopalova also draws parallels between Russian state-controlled communication on Ukraine and Russias wars of the two previous decades, namely those in Chechnya and Georgia.