A Laughter That Will Bury You All

How humanity and humour counter the Russian propaganda against Ukraine

Social media are weapons

Nine months after the war started, the resistance of the Ukrainian David against the Russian Goliath maintains its grip on the Internet. In the first European war in the social media age, social media are weapons as lethal as tanks and missile systems. They disseminate information, and they are a space where people form their opinions and expectations. This is why the Kremlin filled the web with videos showing military superiority in the early days of the war. Russia’s goal was to present its victory as inevitable and demoralise Ukrainian resistance. It aimed to tell the world: “We already won. We are so strong that you don’t need to see it happening.”

Why the failure of the Russian military became a social media phenomenon

There was no need to see it happening because it never happened. The Russian offensive got stalled, and this damaged its image of great military power. Social media are unforgiving towards public failure, especially the ones of political leaders. Their failures tend to become viral because they contradict their image of power and authority. In the case of the Kremlin, social media spread the word that its pompous Cold War rhetoric was a reality that was going never to become true.

Russia speaks the language of power, Ukraine speaks the language of humanity

Social media gave space to Ukrainian leadership to push back against Russian propaganda. In late February, President Putin, alone in his office, declared he was forced to invade Ukraine to protect the Russian people. A few days later, after rumours that he fled the country, President Zelenskyy filmed a video of himself and other Ukrainian officials in the streets of Kyiv. He stated that he and the others were and would have stayed in the capital.

President Putin spoke the language of power; President Zelenskyy spoke the language of humanity. One was a lone man who spoke the language of authority, giving a press conference from an elegant office. The other was a leader engaged with the audience about the survival of his country.

The language of humanity gives a face to the word “war”

Speaking the language of humanity allowed Ukrainian leadership to reckon with grief and consolidate international solidarity. Videos and images of Ukrainian people standing together to resist the invader changed the meaning of war, as social media knew it. It stopped being a word from history books; it became the voice of those singing Ukraine’s national anthem, the terror of those sheltering in overcrowded basements, and the joy of young soldiers cheering with inhabitants of liberated villages.

Humour is one of the best allies of the Ukrainian army

On the war field, humour became one of the best allies of the Ukrainian army. As Russian troops started retreating, Ukraine's leadership used the weapon of humour to laugh at Russia, a country that has been banking on its image of great power for decades. Videos of Ukrainian tractors hauling abandoned tanks flooded the Internet, and social media audiences laughed with soldiers thanking the Russian army for their generous offer of military equipment left behind. A few days ago, there was also a video with the soundtrack of “Oh Yeah” by Yello listing to excerpts of speeches by Russian high-ranking generals who claimed great progress in the conflict.

These stories went viral on social media because they spoke the truth about Russian propaganda while making people laugh. By laughing, people observed the Russian military at a safety distance: they would not be influenced by its threatening language and appearance. They were confronted with real Russian failures, and they were so surprised they laughed.

Why A Laughter Will Bury You All

Humanity and humour represent the core of the communication counter-offensive of the Ukrainian leadership against Russian propaganda. On the one hand, they overcome the problem of declining media interest by representing the daily struggles faced by citizens in a country ravaged by war. On the other, they ridicule the Russian army, reminding themselves that it is as fallible as any other military force in the world. This is how Ukrainian leadership says that Tsar Putin and his army have no clothes, and it was Ukraine who stripped them.