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The former comic actor tailors his language depending on whether he’s speaking to listeners at home or abroad.
By Brandon Kochkodin, Forbes Staff
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky knows his audiences and tailors his speeches accordingly.
A Forbes Ukraine analysis shows that Zelensky, when addressing a Ukrainian audience, uses language that emphasizes the military’s goals and looks to rally internal support for the fight against Russia. Zelensky chooses words like “occupier,” “defense,” “action,” “enemy,” “victory” and “help” to deliver rousing Knute Rockne-like locker room exhortations to inspire his team to run back on the field.
To international audiences, some of the same words are used frequently, such as “life” and “freedom.” However, Zelensky’s message shifts to words like “peace,” “aggression,” “right,” “missile,” “weapon” and “opportunity.” These words evoke the need for foreign support in defending Ukraine’s sovereignty.
From the beginning of Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, to February 14, 2023, Zelensky made 563 public speeches, according to the Forbes Ukraine analysis. “Zelensky’s speeches have a rather unique feature,” Olga Onukh, professor of political science at the University of Manchester and author of “The Zelensky Effect,” told the news outlet. “The president will equally successfully reach completely different audiences — Ukrainians, the British parliament, Japanese students.”
Zelensky’s linguistic flexibility shows how he’s walking a tightrope between domestic and international audiences that have very different expectations for the conflict, while navigating the complex geopolitical landscape of the region.
10 Most Frequently Used Words By Volodymyr Zelensky
“Messages sent to a domestic audience almost invariably refer to Russian troops as ‘occupiers’ or the ‘enemy,’” Yuri Zhukov, an associate professor of political science and research associate professor at the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan, told Forbes. “The enemy need not be named, everyone knows who he is. Presidential addresses for a domestic audience also have a mobilizing function at times of war, and terms like ‘defense,’ ‘action’ and ‘victory’ are clearly intended to articulate the goals of the military effort and rally the population behind it.”
Zelensky’s speeches to those outside the country “are largely appeals for aid, which cast the goals of the military effort slightly differently: achieving ‘peace’ or stopping ‘aggression,’ not ‘victory,’” Zhukov told Forbes.
Zhukov said Zelensky employs the terms “peace” and “victory” differently depending on who he’s addressing.“In domestic Ukrainian political discourse, ‘victory’ is clearly defined as the liberation of all occupied Ukrainian territory, while the meaning of ‘peace’ is more ambiguous,” Zhukov told Forbes. “If we define ‘peace’ as simply a lack of violence, then this is something that theoretically can exist even without a Ukrainian victory. So, a Ukrainian politician who calls for ‘peace’ has to be very careful about how they use this term, so as not to appear dovish or defeatist in the face of an existential threat.”
For international audiences, the situation is turned on its head, Zhukov said. “European leaders have not clearly defined for themselves what a Ukrainian ‘victory’ might look like, and some leaders like [French president Emmanuel] Macron have openly voiced concerns that a humiliating Russian defeat could be destabilizing. But it is far easier for all parties to agree that ‘peace’ is something that they want, so this is a much less divisive term for Zelensky to use when rallying foreign support.”