A discourse analysis of Russia's invasion of Ukraine by listed European entities from the energy-related sectors

Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2022, reinitiating a military conflict. Since Europe relied on Russian energy imports, entities in the energy sector may be affected. Based on content analysis, this exploratory paper assesses the disclosures by listed European entities in the energy sector in 2022 regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine, since the impacts of this event should at least be reported under International Accounting Standard (IAS) 10. The impression management (IM) strategies behind the entities' disclosures are explored by using financial or integrated reporting as a source of information for the period ending in 2021. The findings mostly indicate a lower disclosure level among the entities that reported this event. Further, figures are often missing, and the entities' exposure to this non-adjustable event and its likely future impacts are usually unclear and vague within the notes on the subsequent events. Finally, messages' tone and readability might be aligned with concealment strategies. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first research that uses this theme and IAS 10 notes as the object and source of analysis, respectively. The paper contributes to the literature by providing insights into the different patterns revealed by the entities concerning a current topic that has relevant social and economic impacts globally, as well as the characteristics of the entities' IAS 10 disclosures.