“I love you… Oh yes, I love you.” Gainsbourg’s song begins with a parade of chocolates and tender roses. Love shows itself in many ways, the subtitles of the video recall. “But nothing beats our hearts more… than self-propelled, highly mobile 155mm artillery. Thank you France… Please send us more,” ends the clip in an apotheosis of Caesar cannon photos.
The video on the Twitter account of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense did not go unnoticed. The profile, however, often mixes such humorous messages with its publications. Like this photo of a Ukrainian with muscles on his forehead holding a cup in his hands captioned “Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my morning coffee” or this parody ad on Leclerc tanks praising their “compact”, “sporty” and “easy to park” character on a frenzied title by Claude François.
A way of communicating that contrasts with the solemnity of a de Gaulle or a Churchill. She is no less brilliant. Because in 2023, information warfare is more important and more complex than ever. Social networks allow both sides to reach new audiences, both inside and outside their borders. But the quantity of publications on the Internet (1.7 million Facebook posts every minute, 350,000 tweets, etc.) is such that serious subjects are quickly overshadowed by the latest gag in vogue on TikTok.
Fortunately, the Ukrainian population is well versed in the codes of the Web. From the start of the invasion, she fought a bitter battle with the Russians on the Internet. “We first tried to show them the reality of the bombings, the deaths they caused”, explains Sergey Korolev, CEO of the Railsware company. A sword in the water. Drenched in propaganda, the Russians do not believe the Ukrainian testimonies or dare to take a position on this subject.
So the Ukrainians focused on other digital battles, tirelessly commenting on the conflict, the advances and the losses inflicted on the enemy in order to demoralize him. On social networks, they harangue the allies (States, but also large groups like Microsoft, SpaceX, etc.) to obtain more marked support. With their photos and videos, civilians open thousands of windows on the reality of the conflict, showing the lives cut short, the homes destroyed and daily life turned upside down. “This is the first time that a conflict has been translated into the digital space in this way”, summarizes Bruno Breton, CEO of the Bloom social network analysis platform.
And while humor has always been used to ridicule the enemy, Ukrainians have taken discipline to a whole new level. The smallest event is commented on with spirit, via a rain of memes, these diverted images popular with social networks. The sinking of the Moskva? A transformation of the Russian ship into a “submarine” laughs Ukraine, “liking” montages placing the boat on the poster of Titanic. Others show a comically imprudent monkey, depicting Russia, approaching a small stick near a big sleeping lion with the caption “NATO” or the explosion of the Kerch bridge like a birthday card (that of Vladimir Putin fell little after this Kremlin setback).
Behind these inventive publications hides an organization that is more professional than it seems: some is carried out spontaneously, but the authorities have also commissioned a group of people to design them en masse. And it’s clever. “THE memes are a more powerful communication tool than you might think. The way in which they influence public opinion is taken very seriously by NATO, the United States and China”, analyzes Julien Nocetti, associate researcher at the French Institute of International Relations. these vignettes are long arguments, but the subject is understood in two seconds and triggers an immediate laugh (if it is well done).
Ideal for undermining the image of Russia and the fake news it spreads while supporting the morale of Ukrainians. And a shock cocktail to go viral on the web and keep war at the forefront of global conversation. “A year later, the conflict still generates a lot of publications: more than 4.4 million in one week”, observes Véronique Reille Soult, opinion specialist and president of Backbone Consulting. Result: 2 out of 3 citizens surveyed by Ipsos in 13 Western countries continue to support sanctions on Russian oil and gas, and 57% support Ukraine until the Russians leave. In the sensitive battle of opinion, it is always kyiv that leads.
