Last night, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops over the border into Ukraine, invading the sovereign nation and sparking fears of a much wider conflagration.
The invasion by Russia, which has long had eyes on returning Ukraine into its borders since it left after the collapse of the Soviet Union, was widely condemned by world leaders. NATO described it as a “brutal act of war.”
Unfortunately, even the stark nature of death, destruction, and an entire populace being subjugated by an authoritarian regime, is no match for the crassness of Twitter.
The @Ukraine Twitter account has long been a source of memes and some levity as it endured years of Russian encroachment and aggression. But its latest, in the face of an attack, is being met with flippancy.
Today, it called on users online to tag Russia and tell the state, and Putin, how they feel about its actions today.
Reply guys, apparently, are the first line of digital defense.
“Tag @Russia and tell them what you think about them,” @Ukraine wrote.
Some took it seriously, like the Auschwitz Memorial, which shared a statement. Others, as is the nature of Twitter, did not.
That wasn’t the only meme tweet @Ukraine posted, sharing a picture of Adolf Hitler patting Putin on the chin.
As of now, it appears that replies to Ukraine’s tweets have not ended the military incursion into its territory.
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