There is currently a tense faceoff between Russia and Ukraine. The two nations have had a complicated relationship. Both were a part of the former USSR and became separate nations when the USSR broke up. Ukraine held a referendum in 1991 and a few years later formulated its own constitution. In 2014, the Russians invaded and annexed Crimea - a peninsular region of Ukraine; which today is a disputed area. Russia has essentially been looking to invade Ukraine since 2014 and right now the sabre-rattling threatens to spill over into war.
With an aggressive, militaristic Russia surrounding it from all sides, one of the ways Ukraine has tried to drum up support for itself is via memes and humour on social media.
Ukraine has been using popular meme templates to send out its message about a belligerent Russia on its borders.
It is basically this – Russia has Ukraine surrounded on three sides and the world is watching anxiously afraid of intervening but perhaps even more afraid of not doing so.
The autocratic Russian regime of Vladimir Putin is well known for its expansionist proclivities. The world has been watching cautiously but so far his salami tactics have made it difficult to figure out how to proceed against him.
The ‘crisis’ is caused by an expansionist, power-hungry neighbour looking to invade and annex territories it has no right to says Ukraine.
Most recently, Putin has recognised regions inside Ukraine as independent. These are the pro-Russian separatist-controlled regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas area
The supposed reason given for Russian troop buildup along the Ukrainian borders and inside its territories is that the Russians are entering as ‘peacekeepers’. On social media, the Russians are using revisionist history, supposed nostalgia and outright fiction to bolster their claims.
Right now, Putin seems poised for a Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sovereignty of the latter is imperilled. Western nations have been warning against this and sanctions are likely to be imposed soon.
Right now a lot of people are wondering if Ukraine is planning to counter the Russian offensive via social media is at all useful as a strategy – in this case calling out Russia's well-known anti-LGBTQ laws and policies.
One of the biggest weapons that Russia is using right now is information warfare: misinformation, media manipulation and propaganda. They are pushing the narrative that their aggression against Ukraine is some type of rescue mission.
There are a lot of memes around #Ukraine and #UkraineCrisis. The memes may be funny but the situation is far from funny.
The world watched as Russia annexed Crimea just a few years ago. What will we see next in the wider Russo-Ukrainian conflict?
We are looking at the strong possibility of a full-fledged war in the region; with some saying that this could be Europe’s worst war since the Second World War. The Indian Embassy has asked Indian students in Ukraine to leave and return home right away – yes, things are that serious.
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