Ukraine-Russia Relations in Public Communication of Political Elites: Semi-Automated Content Analysis

The author analyses media content of public communications of power elite of Ukraine and Russia concerning the way of building relations with each other during Yushchenko’s presidency. The focus of the study is on messages of four top-rank politicians: Yulia Tymoshenko, Viktor Yushchenko, Viktor Yanukovych and Vladimir Putin. Quantitative content analysis is used to reveal dynamics in Ukrainian and Russian politicians’ speeches. The author argues that Ukraine failed to take the initiative in economic sphere, but had leading role in cultural domain. The analysis also shows a particular Russia’s interest in Ukrainian inner politics and usage of “gas blackmail” for reaching political goals.