This research examines how Volodymyr Zelensky mobilises emotions and populist rhetoric to
communicate with politicians and Ukrainians. The thesis aims to answer two key questions: (1)
how Zelensky’s emotional messaging differ between targetaudiences of politicians and Ukrainians
and time points (first vs second year of war) (2) what characterises populist communication in
wartime on the case of Zelensky. A theoretical framework on emotional appeals in populist
communication (hate, anger, fear, love, and hope) is developed followed by providing a historical
context on the Russo-Ukrainian war. To address the RQs, 80 speeches delivered by Zelensky
between February 2022 and April 2023 were selected via purposive sampling. The speeches were
analysed through an automated NRC lexicon and an LDA analysis. The conclusions reveal results
contrary to existing populist communication research: (1) Zelensky prioritises positive sentiment
in opposition to a more negative stance often found in populist communication; (2) he opts for a
more emotionally charged tone when addressing politicians compared to Ukrainians. (3) Trust and
fear are the most prominent emotions. However, fear dominates in Ukrainians in the first year and
is replaced by trust in the second year of the war. Conversely, trust is consistent in politicians.
These novel findings are particularly important as they fill a gap in the literature on populist
communication in wartime. This research bridges the gap between populism and crisis
communication, demonstrating how Zelensky’s communication strategies aid in achieving his
goals whether it is to rally citizens or gain material support from politicians.
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