On social networks, Zelensky poses as a war hero

In Moscow, Vladimir Putin stages his diplomatic meetings where we see him, implacable, seated alone at the end of a table six meters long.

In Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky overplays the contrast: he appeared on Monday signing his country's application for membership of the European Union, standing in a khaki sweater, on a plywood desk.

Since the start of the war, the Ukrainian president has relied on antagonism with his Russian counterpart to rally public opinion to his cause.

It also relies on a skilful use of social networks: in less than a week, the 44-year-old president has garnered more than 3 million new followers on Twitter, and as many on Instagram.

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Zelensky thus presents himself as a modern-day warlord, who galvanizes the troops and documents the conflict in real time with his videos in selfie mode.

The skill of the Ukrainian president on social networks is not accidental.

Before being elected to lead his country, Zelensky was an actor and comedian.

In particular, he rose to fame through a series called

, where he played a teacher who became President of Ukraine.

will also be the name he will give to his party for the 2019 presidential campaign, in an obvious sense of staging.

Zelensky capitalized on his atypical background to distinguish himself from post-Soviet political elites, including incumbent President Petro Poroshenko during the campaign.

This is valid in substance and in form.

The former actor has indeed led a campaign resolutely driven by social networks, refusing all confrontations with other candidates and meetings with the press to favor a “

” relationship with voters, via Facebook or Telegram.

Zelensky also stood out thanks to a simple vocabulary, and a lot of images.

Impression of authenticity

Its strategy in this period of war is similar.

Like many Ukrainians who go through their daily lives under the bombs on social networks, Volodymyr Zelensky leads an offensive strategy online.

In a raglan khaki T-shirt or a fatigues, he uses selfie video to counter Russian propaganda and give an authentic image of the president in action.

It is through this that he also denied having left Kiev.

“

, ”he said in a video published on February 26 and shot in front of the House of Chimeras, a monument in Kiev.

“

»

"

", explains Alexandre Eyries, teacher-researcher in information and communication sciences and author of the book

.

“

”, abounds Jérémy Boissinot, founder of Favikon, an agency which is interested in the influence of online politics.

A strategy that seduces: his interventions, especially those in English, are taken up by Western users of Instagram or TikTok, and declined in

pro-Ukraine

Jérémy Boissinot adds: “

»

"

Untouchable

"

The Kremlin has indeed chosen in recent weeks to restrict access to certain social networks to keep control of the narration of "

".

Russia is thus trying to push TikTok to no longer recommend combat images to minors, which could significantly influence the way users learn about the conflict.

For the same purpose, Russia has decided to block Twitter on its territory.

The information channels of the population are thus increasingly restricted: remains the Vkontakte network, “

” very controlled by the power, and television, where the images of the conflict barely filter.

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Volodymyr Zelensky's Twitter account has become the spearhead of the Ukrainian influence strategy.

The Ukrainian president publishes messages of thanks, in their language, to the international governments which lend a hand to Ukraine.

A way to reinforce the impression that Western states are united in the face of the Russian attack, and to increase the impact of these phone calls with foreign leaders.

"

," adds Jérémy Boissinot.

“

”.