A gigantic Adolf Hitler leans over and patts a docile Vladimir Putin: it is one of the animated images that the official Ukrainian government account on Twitter posted on February 24, when the invasion began.
“This is not a 'meme', but ours and your reality right now,” the message read.
About two million people appreciated the tweet and thousands shared it, making it one of the most popular memes of the war so far.
However, the country's official messaging is only a minuscule part of the particular battle being fought on the networks.
During the two weeks following the invasion, the official Ukrainian account left humor behind, allowing the internet to take over.
Dozens of accounts quickly emerged on the networks.
Cats aboard cardboard tanks on TikTok, jokes of all kinds about World War II, even allusions to Star Wars...
- 'Desperate Joke' -
“I don't think memes are going to end the war,” explained Charlie Gere, a professor of sociology at Lancaster University, in the UK.
They are rather a “desperate joke” that will have minimal impact outside their cultural sphere.
One of those animated jokes, however, has crossed borders and stood as a symbol.
The meme of “Saint Javelin” shows a Madonna clinging to an anti-tank rocket launcher. It has become an emblem that can be found on t-shirts and other products, sold by Canadian Christian Borys.
This manufacturer assures that it has already raised more than one million dollars, and that the profits will contribute to the Ukrainian war effort.
For Christian Dumais, writer and actor, who has a well-known Twitter account, “Drunk Hulk”, Ukraine is being very effective when it comes to using animated messages to send messages.
“A meme serves to contextualize what we are seeing in the world, to inspire, or to provoke reflection and educate,” he says.
- 'Express outrage' -
Vincent Miller, from the British University of Kent, considers memes as a conversation that allows political debate to be triggered.
“Given their anonymous nature, and their origins, memes allow people to avoid a lot of friction and the social divide that openly squeezing your political stance on the networks represents,” he explained to AFP.
The official Ukrainian account ridiculed Russian tanks again last weekend.
And other Twitter accounts show President Volodymyr Zelensky as an idol, as a Marvel-style superhero.
His enemy, Vladimir Putin, appears instead hiding behind his massive marble table, or begging for Chinese help.
“These are not revolutionary tactics, of course,” Dumais explains. But memes in this context are significantly better than adding the Ukrainian flag to your profile on the networks,” he says.
By creating a meme, “we can express our indignation and shake off the sense of hopelessness,” he adds.
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