Ukrainians may be deprived of restful sleep, nerves, and electricity, but they certainly cannot be deprived of their sense of humor, which takes on new colors even during war. Find out which memes and social jokes have become symbols of Ukrainian resistance during the full-scale aggression of the russia

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The brutal war unleashed by russia has not broken the spirit of the Ukrainian people, but rather strengthened it and made it more resilient to various events. Despite the fear and complexity of the whole situation, Ukrainian citizens are as optimistic and confident in their victory as ever.

Yes, russia's aggression has taken away the homes, nerves, and restful sleep of Ukrainians, but what you can't take away from our people is their sense of humor.

Since the outbreak of hostilities in 2022, Ukrainians have created many war-related memes. Some of them have become part of modern folklore. Like songs and poems, memes help Ukrainians express their feelings in simple metaphorical language.

These humorous images and anecdotes often reflect the reality of military events, the mood and attitude of the Ukrainian military and citizens to the situation. In this article, we have collected some of the most popular memes that have become real hits during the war.

How do Ukrainians joke during the war?

For Ukrainians, humor is a proven way to survive a crisis. Even during the war, local stand-up comedians gather large audiences in bomb shelters, making jokes to distract people from the grim new reality.

War-related memes are flourishing on social media created by ordinary Ukrainians or on Twitter accounts.

Most often, Ukrainian citizens joke about the defeats of russian soldiers, the impact of sanctions on russians, the absurdity of russian propaganda, and what is happening in the temporarily occupied territories.

One of the most iconic memes during the entire period of the full-scale war was the slogan: "russian warship - go f*ck yourself!". These words were uttered by a soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who was defending Zmeinyi Island in the Black Sea and refused to surrender to russia when a warship of the russian Black Sea Fleet approached him.

The soldier's exemplary courage inspires Ukrainians as they also feel about russia and its aggression against Ukraine.

Another funny meme related to russian military equipment originated at the beginning of the russian invasion. When ordinary citizens of Ukraine stopped enemy tanks with their bare hands, and some of them even stole equipment from the battlefield. For example, Ukrainians know about more than one case when farmers towed russian tanks from the battlefield and then handed over the equipment to the Ukrainian military.

A meme with a cartoon was created in this regard.

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After the war started, all Ukrainians began to understand the meaning of the word "cotton" (in Ukrainian - "bavovna") which became another very popular meme and is still used in Telegram news channels today. Among Ukrainians, it means an explosion or the arrival of a shell. In this case, the people of Ukraine were able to play with the translation of the word "cotton" in a witty way, as it has several meanings.

The meme appeared against the backdrop of the situation in russia, when the russian government instructed all media outlets to refer to explosions as "pops." The russian word "clap" (meaning "loud sound") has a homograph, "khlopok" (meaning "plant, fabric"), which means "cotton" in Ukrainian.

The "cotton" meme appeared on April 25, 2022, when explosions occurred in a military unit and an oil depot in Bryansk, russia. The news of this event, translated from russian sources using online translators, was published online. The translator confused the homographs, which resulted in the news story saying that "a powerful cotton was heard before the fire started".

After the word "cotton" gained popularity, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense came up with a new mythical creature that burns russian military bases. It was named "Bavovnyatko" and looks like this:

As for the explosions. Maybe you remember when a "Bavovnyatko" first came to the temporarily occupied Crimea to visit a russian military airfield? After that, Ukrainian social networks were filled with another popular meme, invented by well-known Ukrainian companies, such as the ATB supermarket chain, the IBox payment service, the Rozetka e-commerce platform, and the Pumb bank.

Then, Ukrainian companies began to joke about where they would resume operations in Crimea after its de-occupation. The chosen place was the Swallow's Nest castle, popular among tourists. The meme was quite funny among Ukrainian society.

As we can see, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, the people of our country do not lose their optimism, but rather boost their morale thanks to a developed sense of humor and faith in Ukrainian defenders.

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We remind you! The myths spread by russia about the emergence of Ukraine have nothing to do with reality. Read more about when Ukraine appeared and why russia emerged thanks to Ukrainians, not vice versa, in our article.

Main photo: donttakefake.com

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