When Vladimir Putin addresses his people: “Any business manager could say the same to thank his collaborators”

All this communication maneuver is explained by the fact that “The Kremlin uses all the means he has at his disposal to win the war in Ukraineaccording to Lidia Likhacheva, lecturer in language sciences at the Catholic Institute of Toulouse. Propaganda and disinformation are part of an organized sprawling system, funded and controlled by the Russian state, both in Russia and abroad.“

Thus, when Vladimir Putin addresses his enemies – either Western countries, judged “decadent” – He is precise, but above all threatening. The Russian president uses abundantly terms like”reprisals“or”duel“, Promises”destruction“, and announces his intention to resort to”modern weapons“(implied” likely to wear a nuclear charge “).”These are sophisticated communications with rhetorical questions and imperative sentencesanalyzes our expert, who has been studying since 2022 the conceptualization of war in Russian propaganda. Vladimir Putin seeks to scare his recipient to achieve his goals.“

Magic words

Each declaration linked to the invasion of Ukraine is made to measure according to the targeted public. The head of the Kremlin therefore adopts a radically different tone when he speaks to his people. The terms used stand out completely with the use of threats, permanent in statements intended for the West: heroes, defender, fighter, courage, bravery … “Normally, we should have other termsexplains Lidia Likhacheva. War is also associated with death, violence, human losses, injuries. There are also battles, attacks, looting, destruction. But in the speech of Vladimir Putin, there are only aspects that glorify it.“

The president uses “magic words”, positive connotation terms used to create a pleasant perception of the subject “It is an emotional manipulation technique. When we talk about heroes and their courage, we have an acceptable vision of reality.“And as the outside world, especially the West, is conceptualized in the Russian media as being malicious and dangerous, the Russians gather around a feeling of grandeur and moral superiority.” The “Special military operation in Ukraine“is justified by the need for”save“Russia of”misery“, the “degradation“And”extinction“.

The conflict in Ukraine is systematically you and transvestite. In the wishes of the New Year pronounced by Vladimir Putin on December 31, the term “war” is only cited once … in reference to the Second World War. Ukraine is not mentioned at all. Lidia Likhacheva indicates that by putting the war side in Ukraine and the Second World War, Vladimir Putin created a cognitive amalgam side. “”There are inconsistencies and contradictions in the vision of the world that can be partially rebuilt from [de ces discours]. For him, the Russians do the same as Soviet soldiers during the Second World War [repousser les troupes nazies, NdlR]. We know this technique under the name of ‘abusive cropping’.“

“An outing of the Ukrainian conflict which is not completely favorable to Russia would be serious for Vladimir Putin”

Like a business manager

Official communications circulating in Russia are “extremely simple to understand“, Note Lidia Likhacheva. The president”Use everyday vocabulary and simple syntactic constructions. His speech presents a sum of information, without foundation or argument. He is so generic, so implicit, that any business manager could say the same to thank his employees.“

In his annual wishes, Vladimir Putin speaks for example in “we”, mentions “objectives”. But who is “us”? And what are the “objectives”? This choice of imprecise is not trivial. “”The imprecise is a very powerful form of manipulation because it gives free rein to the recipient to specify the message mentally and therefore, to personalize it according to its own mode of reasoning. When the formulation of the message is incomplete or is not sufficiently explicit, the recipient dresses the message with his own mental representations and swallows the message without asking questions.“

The Kremlin multiplies declarations denying the existence of Ukraine

Not to be fooled

The president adds another technique to make war acceptable to the eyes of the Russians: repetition. “”When you listen to Vladimir Putin, it looks like there is no need to worry. He keeps repeating that Russia only defends himself because Ukraine was going to invade himreliable Lydia Lichchava. This information is false but it was so repeated in the official discourse of the Kremlin, and so understood by the Russian people, that the latter ended up admitting it as being plausible and acceptable. For many Russians, going to defend Russia in Ukraine poses no problem, even if this idea goes against common sense.“

The chief of the Kremlin relies on the fact that everything that is repeated abusive becomes, at some point, acceptable. And it works. Especially since no one is immune to the effects of propaganda, warns the researcher. “”There is the received idea that propaganda acts on people who are not very well educated, who are socially disadvantaged. In reality, it can completely reach very educated people. There are of course Russians who do not accept this reality, immunes that resist. But Vladimir Putin is not interested in them because he knows full well that he cannot convince them. He focuses on people who can be manipulated, who support his diet and thanks to whom he keeps power.“

Lidia Likhacheva specifies that certain propaganda techniques nevertheless have certain limits. “”The repetition of threats is counterproductive. By dint of hearing them, Western governments have used and react otherwise. At the start of the invasion, they were afraid of giving arms to Ukraine. From now on, they are less and less embarrassed.“The expert insists that”To be effective, propaganda must go unnoticed. She loses her power from the moment the audience realizes manipulation. It is therefore necessary to be able to identify the different discourses of the Kremlin and the instruments with which he tries to achieve his objectives. “ Neither be fooled nor let yourself go.