Ideology in news photos of the Russia-Ukraine war: A semiotic study

This thesis examines news photographs published by Western media outlets during the Russia–Ukraine war. Its aim is to reveal how these photographs position Ukraine as a side aligned with universal values, legitimate, and victimized. The study employs a semiotic analysis method based on Roland Barthes's concepts of denotation, connotation, and myth, combined with Althusser's theory of ideological apparatuses and Gramsci's concept of hegemony. The research purposively selected 20 news photographs published between February 24, 2022, and June 10, 2025, in outlets such as The New York Times, BBC, The Guardian, Reuters, Der Spiegel, and Le Monde. The analysis shows that the photographs predominantly depict Ukrainian and Western leaders side by side, thereby presenting Ukraine as a legitimate country that deserves support. In this framing, narratives of rightful resistance and victimhood are emphasized, while the Russian side is generally rendered invisible. The study also proposes the concept of Embedded 5.0 to describe a new form of embeddedness in which journalists, not present in the field, rapidly publish unverified images via digital channels. The findings indicate that news photographs do not merely convey information but also invite audiences to adopt a specific political stance.