NEWS DISCOURSE OF RUSSIAN INFORMATION WARFARE: THE CASE OF "SPUTNIK"
Anton Chernetskyi

Final Master Thesis

Journalism and Media Industries Study Program, state code 621P50002
Degree in Journalism
https://www.vdu.lt/cris/bitstream/20.500.12259/35074/1/anton_chernetskyi_md.pdf


VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY
 FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND DIPLOMACY
 PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT 

CONTENTS

SUMMARY.....................................................................................2
SANTRAUKA.................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 4
1. INFORMATION WARFARE AS THE MAJOR INSTRUMENT OF RUSSIA’S
MODERN HYRBID WARFARE .................................................................................................... 9
1.1. Understanding of Modern Russian Information Warfare in the era of Information
Society ............................................................................................................................................. 9
1.2. News as ideological discourse........................................................................................... 16
2. THE ROLE OF SPUTNIK IN CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN INFORMATION
WARFARE ...................................................................................................................................... 24
2.1. Sputnik as a political institution of Russian public diplomacy......................................... 24
2.2. Strategies and technologies of Sputnik ............................................................................... 31
3. SPUTNIK’S NEWS DISCOURSE AS DISCOURSE OF RUSSIAN INFORMATION
WARFARE ...................................................................................................................................... 40
3.1. Case study: Sputnik’s coverage of the Dutch referendum on EU-Ukraine Association
agreement ..................................................................................................................................... 40
3.2. Case study: Sputnik’s anti-Turkish information campaign after Turkey's downing of
Russian Su-24 warplane .............................................................................................................. 49
CONCLUSIONS.............................................................................................................................. 62
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................ 65
Literature...................................................................................................................................... 65
Sources.......................................................................................................................................... 69
2
SUMMARY
Pursuing its political aims, Russia develops more and more sophisticated power to
manipulate mass consciousness, introducing new techniques, which should be researched both quantitatively and qualitatively. In the recent years after annexation of Crimea in 2014 and escalation of the armed conflict in the Eastern Ukraine, it has been the main scientific problem of many contemporary researches. Since new technologies of information warfare are introduced by Russia constantly, and information continues, providing researchers with new material to be analyzed, the problem not only remains relevant but also requires some regular update.
Sputnik is one of the main tools, used by Russia in its information warfare. Launched less
than three years ago, it has been actively spreading disinformation and Russian narratives all over
the world.
This research on a topic ‘News Discourse of Russian Information Warfere: the Case of
‘Sputnik’ is aimed to provide new data on some major narratives in Russian news discourse, and, more importantly to explore how Sputnik’s discourse is shaped in accordance with them to help Kremlin to achieve its political goals by influencing international audiences’ opinion.
The main objectives are to understand the role and functions of Sputnik in Russian
information warfare, to identify contemporary Russian narratives in Sputnik’s news discourse, to describe strategies techniques and instruments, used by Sputnik to spread Russian narratives and influence international audiences, as well as analyze dynamics of Sputnik’s news discourse in the context of the concrete events and Kremlin’s policy.
To achieve these objects literature analysis, institutional networking analysis of Sputnik,
discourse analysis and qualitative content analysis of Sputnik’s were conducted, as well as two case  studies were presented.
In the course of the research the better understanding of modern Russian information
warfare was acquired, Russian narratives were identified, techniques and instruments used by Sputnik were described.
Results of the research showed that Sputnik’s discourse is constructed in line with official
Kremlin’s position, and aimed to fulfill its political goals. Sputnik’s example showed that Russian media not only able to dramatically change public opinion in the way, beneficial for Kremlin, in the short periods of time, but also have a direct influence on international events. It was concluded that offensive strategy is more efficient in information warfare than defensive one, and some recommendations were formulated.

Fortress Russia:
Political, Economic, and Security Development
in Russia Following the Annexation of Crimea
and its Consequences for the Baltic States
Editor: Andis Kudors
The Centre for East European Policy Studies
University of Latvia Press
Rīga, 2016
http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/baltikum/14114.pdf

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Andis Kudors
Introduction 5
Part I: Ideology
Dmitry Oreshkin
Putin’s Third Term Ideology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Ainars Lerhis
Back to the USSR: A Selective Approach to Russian History 29
Part II: Politics
Simonas Algirdas Spurga and Nerijus Maliukevičius
Russian Media Politics Before and After the Annexation of Crimea . . . .49
Andis Kudors
Near the Fortress: Ukraine’s Echo in Political Relations between Russia
and the Baltic States 71
Sergey Utkin
The Eastern Vector in Russian Foreign Policy: Complimentary or
an Alternative to Europe? 91
Part III: Economics
Roman Dobrokhotov
The Economic Situation in Russia after the Annexation of Crimea and
its Influence on Russian Policy 111
Liudas Zdanavičius
Economic Development in Russia after 2014 and its Consequences
for the Baltic States 129
Part IV: Security
Aleksandr Golts
Russian Military Reform and its Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Riina Kaljurand
The Annexation of Crimea and its Implications for the Baltic States’
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
Andis Kudors
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189

Notes on Authors 192