This article investigates how British newspapers covered Crimea’s annexation and the Donbas war. It shows that initially an “international conflict frame” was used as the dominant way to interpret Crimea’s annexation, which in about three months was succeeded by a “local conflict frame,” then used as the most prevalent way to make sense of the enduring Donbas war. Moreover, it shows that as the war on Ukrainian territory evolved, it changed from an issue for “us” (the West) to an issue for “them” (those parties involved in the conflict). This shifting understanding appears to stem from ambiguity about the nature of the Donbas conflict, which, in turn, is caused by Russia’s consistent efforts to deny their involvement herein. A follow-up article that compares these findings to how the conflicts’ are covered in the German and US media will be available soon.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
VoxUkraine: How EU and US media cover Crimea’s annexation, Donbas war
Ukrainian soldiers patrol in the streets of the village of Katerynivka, in the Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine, on Nov. 2, 2019, after their withdrawal.
