Analysis of a Speech by Zelensky to the Russian People

In Ukraine’s president Zelensky’s speech to the Russian people he solidifies Russians and Ukranians as a united people. Zelensky develops this position by repeating plural words such as “we” and “our” multiple times throughout his address. This decision is made with the intention of unifying Russians and Ukrainains in order to establish peace and not conflict.

This speech to Russian people has a very prevalent pattern of repetition of words “we” “our” and “us.” These words indicate possession of something together, there is something mutually owned between both Russians and Ukraninans. The existence of this mutually shared thing is meant to make them both seem on the same side. You do not use those words to someone who is your enemy, someone you want to attack or harm. Zelenksy knows this, he believes this, but he wants the Russians to believe it too. It’s an effective strategy because it is finding something in common between the two nations, which lowers the chances of them inciting war. He repeats these words the most when talking about culture and land, which are two very highly valued commodities for both Ukraine and Russia. Russians are more likely to sympathize with Ukraine if they make the connection that they are not so different from them, since us as people tend to side with those most similar to us rather than attack them. 

President Zelensky had a tendency to ask many questions, then go on to answer them himself after a prolonged pause. This decision was made in order to solidify the logic used by the Russian government. Zelenksy would ask questions such as “why would we do this?” “why would I attack a country I have ties to” which are all questions that attack the justification of the Russian government. He is trying to make Russians understand that the government is using false information to convince their people the Ukrainians have intentions that they don’t. Zelenksy wouldn’t be capable of convincing a Russian audience that their way of thinking is incorrect by bluntly saying so or by insulting their intelligence. He wants the Russian people to come to their own conclusions on their own, he simply guides them with brain teasing questions that pushes their perspective, that way they can arrive at the conclusion he wants them to without feeling like they were manipulated into it. 

After solidifying unity amongst the nations, asking questions with an intention of changing people’s minds, Zelenksy ends his speech with humanizing himself as a person. He appeals to this audience by mentioning how the people are affected by war, which is not always considered by major world leaders. Many world leaders and successful business people actually profit from war, which is a very known and resented fact by citizens. Knowing that Zelensky is aware of how detrimental war is on people makes him seem more human, and not some money hungry world leader who couldn’t care less about his people. This decision makes the Russian people respect him more as a person, which increases the chance of them actually listening to what he has to say instead of disregarding him due to his political position.