Communicating incitements to genocide of Ukrainians and other crimes, Russian propagandists often quote top officials and military and use their statements as reason to produce new, more inhumane narratives and to enhance emotional influence of these statements on the target audience.

For the purpose of using a “narrative vertical” the following practices of enhancing an influence by TV presenters and TV show guests were observed:

• Expressing agreement with the statements of Putin and other top officials about the “denazification” of Ukraine;
• Using of linguistic and paralinguistic instruments aimed at influencing the psycho-emotional state of the audience, evoking strong emotions, thus blocking rational thinking;
• Emphasizing the messages of Putin and other representatives of the Russian authorities with more radical statements and appeals by TV presenters and other speakers;
• Completing statements made by top officials with own interpretations. Using hate speech, deteriorating the logic of statements, and communicating distorted or fake information to justify crimes with genocide signs and crimes against humanity;
• Using hate speech to justify violence and escalation of hatred against Ukrainians;
• Developing the opinion of high-ranking officials and adding their own conclusions, judgments and appeals to it;
• Using the opinions of high-ranking officials as indisputable proof of the guilt of Ukrainians and arguments for further crimes against humanity, which the Russian army commits against the civil population of Ukraine;
• Using accusations against Ukrainians by high-ranking officials to provide moral permission for crimes against humanity and genocide;
• Adding negative sentiment to statements when quoting high-ranking officials;
• Inviting numerous officials, politicians, and members of legislative bodies to the air who additionally rebroadcast the opinions of high-ranking officials as bearers of indisputable authority and famous persons (directors, bloggers, etc.) who are popular in society in order to add credibility to statements containing anti-Ukrainian narratives;
• Quoting top officials to further incite hatred towards Ukrainians in order to legitimize the narrative regarding the collective responsibility of the entire Ukrainian nation for individual criminal crimes, the perpetrators, and customers of which have not been established even by official Russian investigative bodies, in the minds of viewers;
• Reading live verbatim quotes from top officials and leaders of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which contain calls for genocide without any explanations or comments condemning these calls, by TV presenters;

For example, one of the guests on the air on PERVYI CANAL quoted Putin’s statement made during the war in Chechnya, in which he called for exterminating the terrorists. This quote from Putin was used in connection with the war in Ukraine and combined with a call to destroy Ukraine including the civilians because Ukraine is a terrorist state and therefore all Ukrainians are terrorists. Making such messages public is used as an additional argument to justify anti-Ukrainian rhetoric.

In another broadcast of the Russian governmental TV channel, Sergey Lavrov, Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, said that the purpose of the special operation was to protect the residents of Donbas from the “Kiev neo-Nazi regime.” Commenting on this statement, Sergey Karnaukhov, a TV presenter, added his own conclusions to this quote and called for the complete extermination of all authorities in Ukraine, calling them a “Nazi regime”.

Discussing the statements of top officials become topics for broadcasts and shows of state Russian television. Quotations from officials about the need for “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine become a reason for spreading further calls for the extermination of Ukrainians based on the personal interpretation of these terms by TV presenters and show guests on the air.

For example, one of the show guests on the “Solovyov LIVE” channel, discussing Lavrov’s quotes about the need to de-nazify Ukraine, called for conquering the entire territory of Ukraine, arguing that all Ukrainians are Nazis, and therefore only the total armed control over the entire territory of Ukraine will make “denazification” successful, and protect Russians from “Ukrainian Nazis”.

Often talk shows on national Russian governmental TV channels start with short videos with quotes from top Russian officials. These statements are used as a keynote and main topic for discussion throughout the show. Such shows are usually broadcast on TV channels in prime time in order to reach the largest possible audience of these media.

For example, the broadcast of March 25, 2024, dedicated to discussing the terrorist attack in the Moscow Region on March 22, 2024, was structured in this way. The show began with airing a recording of the address of Putin, “president” of the Russian Federation, in which he talked about the terrorist attack and expressed the suspicion that it was the Ukrainians who participated in organizing this terrorist attack.

It is worth noting that the broadcast topic was presented as text and communicated the main message to which, in fact, this show was dedicated, from the beginning. The message was published at Smontrim.ru website as name of broadcast and its key text introduction. The text claims that Ukraine and the USA are certainly “guilty of terrorist attack” in the Moscow Region in March 2024.

The entire show was structured in such a manner that this message, thanks to the sentiment that the presenter contributed, too, was perceived by the broadcast audience as the ultimate and undisputable truth. The several hours’ talk show was aimed at communicating “Ukrainians are terrorists” concept. This opinion was additionally presented by invited officials and opinion leaders, whose appeals contained statements about the necessary massacres of civilians in Ukraine by carpet bombing, including the use of nuclear weapons.

Another example of creating the narrative vertical is using the appeal of Ramzan Kadyrov, a Russian general of the Ministry for Interiors, “to exterminate all shaitans and Banderites in Ukraine”. This appeal in the form of a quote was simultaneously communicated by several Russian national TV channels, and to emphasize the emotional component of this appeal, Olga Skabeyeva, a TV presenter of the Russia-1 channel, quoted it personally and later used this quote as the reason for an entire broadcast disseminating hatred towards all Ukrainians.

In other Russian media, free interpretations from the TV presenters themselves were added to this appeal. For example, Sergey Karnaukhov, a presenter of authorial TV show on the “Solovyev LIVE” channel, used this appeal to create his own message, in which he called to gibbet Ukrainian prisoners of war right in the central squares of the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.”

Thus, the narrative verticals created by Russian top officials together with popular presenters of nationwide Russian governmental TV channels are one of the frequently used instruments to enhance the influence of calls for genocide and other crimes on the minds of the target audience of these media.

Authors: Iryna Siedova, Yulia Krylova-Hrek

For examples of analyzed statements, follow the link.