The Best Ever Book of Ukrainian Jokes: Lots and Lots of Jokes Specially Repurposed for You-Know-Who

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A foreigner entering Russia would be prohibited from "interfering with the activities of public authorities of the Russian Federation, discrediting in any form the foreign and domestic state policy of the Russian Federation, public authorities and their officials", TASS said. The rousing ode to Turkish drones, Bayraktar, has garnered nearly two million views. It shows grinning uniformed men dancing with their guns as they deride the Russians as “sheep” and “orcs”. Russia’s digital messaging I burst into laughter. So did the people next to me, and everyone else too. For a moment, I forgot about fear. Surrounded by so many young Ukrainians, all of us laughing in spite of all we have seen, all we have gone through, I felt powerful.

In another poke, to celebrate Ukraine’s 31st Independence Day on August 24, authorities lined the usual parade route in Kyiv with destroyed Russian military vehicles. Taken together these military developments indicate that, after weeks of preparatory missile strikes and other activity, the counter-offensive has entered a new and more aggressive phase. The infrared data, which show the fires that result from shelling and bombing, suggest that June 6th was one of the most intense days of fighting since the war began, with most of the fires occurring in Russian-held areas. The continuing confusion over the disposition of Ukraine’s forces and their primary targets is testimony to Ukraine’s success in keeping its plans under wraps. There is definitely an element of privilege and safety behind the impulse to meme instead of staying glued to the news. Part of the meme response is about “not realizing what war really is and what it means,” Alhabash said. “So, dealing with it in a laissez-faire kind of way.”

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In a 2020 phone interview, Saleem Alhabash, who studies memes and social media at Michigan State University’s media psychology department, told me memes are as valid a response as any other to overwhelming events beyond our control. “These memes, the way that people are communicating, could be a reflection of the general feeling that people are having,” he said. “This uncertainty about what is going to happen, and how severe this trend is. So while they might appear humorous or [dismissive] of the seriousness, they can reflect [public] sentiment.”

As Russian soldiers entered Kharkiv, so did their mobile and social media presence. Reportedly, Ukrainian women started receiving right swipes from invading Russian soldiers on dating app Tinder. The worst-hit areas are those immediately downstream from the dam. Some of them are under Russian control, on the eastern shore of the Dnieper. A Ukrainian military spokesperson suggested Russia had lost many of its own defensive positions, forcing it to retreat to a second line of defence 5-15km away.

This research on how social media is used as a tool of information warfare is worth mentioning here. It describessocial media as a “weapon of words that influence the hearts and minds of a target audience and a weapon of mass disruption that can have effects on targets.” Two days of storms and snow in the south have left the ground sodden and unsuitable for military manoeuvres. The defense minister said he thought, optimistically, pilots could be operating F-16s in the skies of Ukraine by spring of next year. Speaking to CNN’s Alex Marquardt in the Ukrainian capital, Reznikov, a lawyer turned defense official, did concede that if Ukraine had these fighter jets now they would “certainly” have helped Ukraine make more progress in the ongoing counteroffensive.

During a post-show interview, both comedians said they hoped the war ends before the fall, for purely careerist reasons. They’ve got some corporate gigs lined up in other countries and as long as hostilities rage, men are barred from leaving the country. The strikes, launched Saturday night into early Sunday, killed at least one person, the army's Operational Command South said in a statement on Telegram. They also left at least 19 people hurt, including four children. While our partners load planes and cars with weapons for Ukraine, we are preparing our branded 'brotherly' gift for the Russian bastard[s]," the Council said in a social media post. By contrast, Ukraine’s defenses failed to intercept any of the five Oniks cruise missiles and three Kh-22 anti-ship missiles fired at the city, in addition to two ballistic missiles of the Iskander-M type. Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.But unlike previous instances when “WWIII” memes took over the internet, this round of social media discourse has been tinged with grim reality. This is no abstract threat. War is already occurring, and that leads the act of meme-making in a time of crisis to feel much, much different. Deriding Russia is nothing new. Following the 2014 invasion of Crimea, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs built its digital messaging capacity in a strategic communications unit helmed by Dmytro Kuleba, with advice from the United Kingdom and the United States. Gifs and memes from the television show The Simpsons began to make appearances in digital propaganda. Foreigners would also be barred from "distorting the historical truth about the feat of the Soviet people in the defence of the Fatherland and its contribution to the victory over fascism" - likely a reference to the war in Ukraine. By rapidly disseminating visual information with the added gaze of carefully constructed narratives, parties engaging in conflict, be it government, insurgent groups, terrorists or even common people can shape public opinion.

When God created Eastern Europe, he carved from the earth three hulking nations: a dull gray valley called Germany, an endless white tundra called Russia, and, between the two, a bursting field of yellow flowers called Ukraine.Modern Ukraine’s sense of humor is probably defined by our election in 2019 of Volodymyr Zelensky. His political-satire show and his Servant of the People sitcom were all-time television favorites. Of course, his election wasn’t a joke: Zelensky has proved a serious, capable president. Perhaps naive at first, he is now a modern wartime leader whom many Western countries admire. LVIV, Ukraine — Some morsels of news are so grim and absurd that they sound like they were conceived in the warped imagination of bored satirists. Like the headline from Belarus a few weeks ago, reporting that 10th graders there were being taught how to aim rifles — using shovels. Late last month, a couple of days after Russian missiles hit Kyiv, killing a Ukrainian journalist; a few weeks after Russian forces laid siege to this city, my hometown; two months after Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded my homeland, I went down into a converted bomb shelter and laughed. A lot. And it felt great.