Editor’s Message

They say comedy is tragedy plus time, but despite the terrible current invasion in Ukraine, there is no time lapse, and it has not stopped the Ukrainian government or internet dwellers from poking fun and getting a few laughs in the midst of the turmoil.

The internet and social media are buzzing with droves of memes about the Russian invasion, Putin, ships, tanks and Ukrainian farmers.

Rightly so, the Ukrainian “farmer and tractor corps” memes are getting a lot of airtime – both on land and sea – and yes, some are simply hilarious. Honestly, John Deere should thank the Ukrainian agriculture sector for proving “Nothing runs like a Deere.”

The account named Ukrainian Memes Force (@uamemesforces) joined Twitter at the end of February where one can see the best memes targeting the Russian invaders as well as Ukraine farmers, citizens, and the tractors on the hunt for tanks and military hardware.

But overall, the memes themselves have been predictable, from the World War III memes, the geopolitical, the draft, Wordle and accidental. Memes referencing other memes and memes about memeing. But this time, there is a tinge of grim reality since the war is realtime.

The irony, satire and outright cynicism appear to help Ukrainians cope with the stress, loss, uncertainty and violence around them as people hiding from attack in subterranean shelters exchange jokes on their phones as a release from the darkness.

While some are “offended” by some of the dark humor on the Ukraine Twitter account and consider the memes as callous in the face of suffering, it doesn’t take a huge feat of empathy to recognize that even though you may not be the person impacted by a crisis today, you could be impacted by it or a similar crisis later. And it’s human to crack jokes as a way of relieving some of your very real anxiety.

It appears the bulk of meme makers support Ukraine, and this is just one of the ways to demonstrate it.

America may not be directly engaged in the fighting in Ukraine, but it appears they are in spirit. That spirit is called the Javelin (and don’t forget John Deere).

In the end, we all pray for the safety of the Ukrainian people who are under siege and that this conflict will end soon and freedom for its people will prevail.