From Gladiator to Ninja Turtles: the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense is betting on humor on Twitter

“Even in war the boys play”, they explain from psychology. Play and humor are release valves and even defense mechanisms in the face of distressing and painful situations. The Ministry of Defense of Ukrainethrough his Twitter account, he is a guy who defends himself from the Russian invasion with stories, information and a surprising dose of irony, sarcasm and humor.

On February 24, at 2:38 am Argentine time, the @DefenceU account, from the Defense portfolio of the government of Volodimir Zelenski, published a statement by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the occasion of the start of the Kremlin attacks.

The post has a link that leads to the Ministry’s Facebook page. There we read:

Today, February 24, at 17:00, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation began intensive bombing of our units in the east and also launched missile attacks on the airports of Boryspil, Ozernoye, Kulbakin, Chuguev, Kramatorsk, Chernobayivtsi, and so on. away, the military objects of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At the same time, the attacker launched artillery shelling of the territory and settlements of Ukraine along the state border.

The air force of the Ukrainian armed forces rebels against the zagarbnika air attack. The State Defense Forces are in full combat, they have occupied and maintained defensive positions. The situation is under control.

Information about the paratroopers of the Russian troops in Odessa does not correspond to reality.

Together we will win!

The account, which today has 1.2 million followers and was created in July 2012, ten years later, not only informs and replies messages from civilian and military officials, but also sends messages to those they call “visitors” with a load of anger, indignation and even promises of death, typical of a war situation involving, once again, the former Soviet republic against the Russians.

Zelensky, a former actor and comedian who became head of state on May 20, 2019, is today the head of the Ukrainian resistance and his former profession may have been the source of the Defense Ministry’s resource to “play”, even in times of war.

But it didn’t start happening until May 2022 that the account ceased to be purely informational to begin sharing in the first place. an ironic comic published by its owner, Oleksii Reznikov, to begin sending messages of encouragement to his troops days later.

Prayers for Ukrainians and daily numbers of what the fighting left behind began to alternate with irony on May 14, 50 days after the first missile fell.

“A month ago, under mysterious circumstances, the cruiser” Moskva “sank. This event was announced 50 years ago with the colors of the Ukrainian flag on the coat of arms of Murmansk, the base of the Russian fleet. Including 20 Neptune missiles in the coat of arms. it would have been too much, 2 “was enough, it was, if not the first, one of these.

The next day there was talk of “denazifying the Russians”, in reference to what Putin said he wanted to do in Ukraine. So, it was only 19 that foreign companies that had not yet left Russia were criticized by the bill. “There can be only one explanation why some foreign companies have not yet left Russia: money is more important to people’s lives. New warlords.”

In times of massacres in cities like Bucha and Mariupol, the tone has remained mostly serious, even with calls for help and prayers.

However, as the resistance strengthened, largely thanks to the economic and military aid of so-called “partners” such as the European Union and the United States, the terror reflected in the tweets has morphed into courage, guarantee of a happy ending and now yes. , irony and sarcasm.

References to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and how they grew from the hand of their master, Splinter, a recreation of a scene from the film Gladiator while walking through a wheat field and to a supposed scene from a zombie apocalypsewhen the government unmasked the destroyed russian tanks in the streets of kiev, they were among the most outstanding.

“There is a disturbing harvest of deadly metals in Ukraine this year. Russia is the world’s leading exporter of death and suffering,” reads one of the tweets showing the remains of Russian weapons in a Ukrainian agricultural field.

“Fireworks” was the account’s way of renaming the trails left by aerial missiles before they explode and warning Russian soldiers that they won’t have a single peaceful night’s sleep because the Ukrainian Navy is lurking.

There is obviously no shortage of life stories of those who fell on the front line or who are still fighting, such as that of Lev Uliesov, the former supermodel now a soldier.

Messages sent to allies for help are another type of message that abounds in @defenceU’s “feed”.

On August 9, when Russia bombed Crimea, the photo of a seaside resort went viral, where those who sunbathed and enjoyed the sea suddenly fled due to the fall of bombs.

The tents on the beach with thick black smoke in the background of an explosion was the photo that accompanied a message full of sarcasm: “The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reminds everyone that the presence of occupation troops on the territory of Ukrainian Crimea is not compatible with the high tourist season“.

“Even in war the boys play.”

DB