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How Ukrainians have fought back with humorous war-related memes - from Saint Javelin to NAFO [1]
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Date: 2022-12-01
A picture of a Shiba Inu dog wearing a Ukrainian military uniform shared on Twitter by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry to show gratitude to the North Atlantic Fellas Organization, a social media movement dedicated to countering Russian propaganda.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainians have fought back with humor, creating a trove of war-related memes that have countered Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns.
The Kyiv Independent has offered a handy guide to making sense of these Ukrainian memes that have been thriving on social media ever since a defiant Ukrainian border guard on Snake Island said “Russian warship, go fu-k yourself” on the first day of the war.
That meme made it to a Ukrainian postage stamp that was issued on April 13, and one-day later that Russian warship, the guided-missile cruiser Moskva, was turned into a submarine by Ukrainian anti-ship missiles.
Here’s a Tweet from Ukrposhta, the Ukrainian postal service, announcing the winner of the contest to create the design for the postage stamp.
The memes have reflected the course of the war right up through the liberation of the southern port city of Kherson last month as Ukraine has moved from defense to offense.
This meme is based on a joke about former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, whose short term in office was compared to “the shelf life of a lettuce” in the Daily Star tabloid. In this case, the lettuce has outlasted the Russian annexation of Kherson province.
And since the Kherson region is known for producing some of the tastiest watermelons in the country, it didn’t take long for someone to create a meme replacing the head of lettuce with a watermelon.
When Russia’s military was retreating from Kherson, they not only looted washing machines, but even stole a raccoon from a local zoo, which inspired a series of memes, including a joke that the only “strategically important object” that the Russians managed to capture during nine months of war was a raccoon.
x Russian soldiers have stolen a raccoon from Kherson zoo. The social media in Ukraine exploded. Ukrainians want the raccoon back. pic.twitter.com/2jPetEHU03 — Liubov Tsybulska (@TsybulskaLiubov) November 14, 2022
For the story, Kyiv Independent writer Daryna Antoniuk interviewed Christian Borys, creator of the popular Saint Javelin meme which depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the U.S.-made anti-tank weapon which played a key role in stopping Russian armored vehicles in their tracks in the victorious Battle of Kyiv.
Borys said memes can offer some relief from the traumatic experiences of the war and can also keep people engaged and informed.
Borys also believes that Russia’s war has changed the way Ukrainians joke. “Ukrainians have a dark, very biting sense of humor now because they are so, so angry,” Borys said. “Memes are a way to express that, but in a funny way,” he told the Kyiv Independent.
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