Unmuting leadership: the impact of Zelensky’s social media strategy at the inset of the Ukrainian War

Abstract Since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, President Zelensky has used his social networks to request international support. This research analyzes the audiovisual discourse of the hegemonic networks during the first 40 days of the humanitarian war crisis in the context of risk communication. The contribution of this research relates to the unveiling of a new era where social media platforms are no longer the underdog of traditional media. This paper analyzes the visual content of President Zelensky’s most followed social media profile, Instagram. This paper builds on previous work examining the political leaders of the most affected European countries during the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and how they enhanced the use of their social media profiles in order to communicate about the crisis. In contrast to the use of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, the audiovisual narrative created by the president of Ukraine optimized the social network’s resources and achieved an impactful and authentic approach to leadership during the first 40 days of crisis.