The popularity of the instant messaging app Telegram in Ukraine and Russia
was strong even before the still-ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, since
24 February 2022 (when the Russian invasion began), it has seen huge increases in
subscribers and even become the primary communication and news source in Ukraine.
In this exploratory research, we analysed Telegram channels from both Ukraine
(@UkraineNow — the official channel of the Ukrainian government, and @V_Zelenskiy_
official — the official channel of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy) and
Russia (@rt_russian — the official channel of the news network RT) to discern the
content of posts during this invasion. Our analysis of 37,172 posts in total showed
that while @UkraineNow is particularly being used to communicate invasion-related
news, @rt_russian is working as merely an extension of RT, which is part of the
pro-Kremlin propaganda and disinformation ecosystem. However, Zelenskyy has opted
for a completely different approach: he has used his Telegram channel to encourage
Ukrainians and garner support from the World. The present conflict is at a critical
juncture, and our timely research seeks to determine how both countries’ governments
are utilizing Telegram as a weapon for the information war and what impact this has
on ground.