Narrating the War: How European and U.S. Political Elites Frame Ukraine on X
The Media and Journalism Research Centre has released Political Narratives of War: A Comparative Analysis of MEP and U.S. Presidential X Posts on Ukraine, a new study tracking the competing narratives surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as they unfold across social media platforms.
The researchers analyzed over 80,000 X posts published by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) as well as both the former and current US administrations from the onset of the invasion through April 2025.
Key findings include:
- An +84% increase in “Pro-Russian” narratives since January 2025, coinciding with President Trump’s inauguration.
- A +368% relative rise in “Pro-Russian” and “Neutral” posts from key figures in the Trump administration compared to those from the Biden administration.
- Overall, “Pro-Russian” narratives have surged by +729% since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
- The Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN), representing the most “Pro-Russian” party in the European Parliament, accounts for 76% of the posts from its members that perpetuate these narratives.
These narratives often justify Russia’s invasion by framing it as a necessary response to Western aggression, criticize NATO expansion and military interventions as provocative and destabilizing, and depict Ukraine’s government as illegitimate or a Western‑backed puppet regime.
Additionally, the analysis reveals that Humanitarian and Civilian Impact remains the least discussed theme across social media platforms, suggesting that the humanitarian dimension is consistently marginalised in elite political discourse.
Commenting on the findings, Dr Marius Dragomir, Director of the Media & Journalism Research Centre, said: “Russian disinformation does not spread in a vacuum; it spreads because influential voices in the West repeat, launder and legitimize it. Our data show that when senior politicians and officials echo Kremlin talking points, they help mainstream a foreign propaganda line inside democratic debate. If we are serious about defending Ukraine and our own institutions, we need to stop pretending this is only a problem of shadowy troll farms and start examining the role of elected leaders, parties and pundits in amplifying Moscow’s narratives.”
Media literacy expert and co-author of the report, Benjamin Marks, said: “This is almost certainly a conservative picture of the true reach of Russian propaganda. But even this sample of public figures points to an ever accelerating breakdown in the common narratives that once underpinned public life across much of the Western world. That shared ground is eroding, and with it, public debate, trust in institutions and our ability to respond to crises all begin to suffer. These findings underline how urgent it is to equip people to be more resistant to mis- and disinformation, so we can start to rebuild a common understanding of reality.”
See the full report here.
See more publications in the MJRC Media Content Analysis Series here.
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