Ukraine's official Twitter account has started trolling Russia with various memes.
Vladimir Putin's 'special military operation' is now on its 18th day, with warfare still raging across Ukraine as Russia persists with airstrikes, with 35 people killed in an attack near a NATO-linked base close to the border with Poland.
The mounting casualties and damage have also sparked a storm of sanctions, with Russia retaliating with its own loosening of copyright laws in response to wide-ranging restrictions from the West, from frozen assets to bans on oil and gas imports.
The official Twitter account of Ukraine, now standing at 1.8 million followers, has been particularly active since the start of the invasion. At first, it echoed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's calls for action and support, but it's since diversified its output.
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Over the past few days, the account has shared an array of content: a tweet dedicated to Taras Shevchenko, 'Ukraine’s greatest poet', who once wrote, 'Keep fighting - you are sure to win’; posts celebrating 'Happy Stalin's Death Day!'; and videos collating words of support for Ukraine from celebrities like Andrew Garfield, Lady Gaga and James Corden.
Recently, it's been posting some particularly sharp memes aimed at Russia. For example, one shows a long queue of people waiting to apply for Ukrainian citizenship, while one person waits for 'investing in Russia', likely jabbing at the plummeting value of the ruble and sanctions crippling Russian businesses, to the point many major brands have been cutting ties with the country.
Another tweet features Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man. In the top half, he's not wearing his glasses, and he's looking at the Russian Armed Forces posing in tanks.
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In the lower half, he's looking through his glasses to a Russian tank on fire, presumably at the hands of Ukraine's troops. This also comes after the State Border Guard Service claimed Ukrainian forces have destroyed Russian military equipment worth more than $5 billion over the course of the war.
Another video focusing on the Mariupol maternity hospital bombing is captioned, 'How to tell a Russian official is lying... his lips move', referencing Russian claims that reports of their role in the attack are 'fake' and Ukrainian forces have actually seized the building, despite overwhelming footage to the contrary.
'Ukrainians are just like you. But the war affects just everything: how we live, how we love and how we take care of the people most dear to us. Help us save lives. Demand your governments to act now. Together, we can and must stop Putin,' it wrote.
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If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information
Topics: Ukraine, Russia, World News