As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues well into the second month and enters the 52nd day, Russian soldiers can be seen in many cities across Ukraine. However, another there is another battle being fought on social media platforms, the information war, which is fully dominated by Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky has launched an all-out attack, from day one of the invasion, on twitter while bunkered down in Kyiv. It must be noted that Ukraine is the most wired country to have ever been invaded with over 75% of the country having access to internet and smartphones.
Volodymyr Zelensky can be seen posting videos on twitter while standing outside the Kyiv government quarter while the Ukrainian soldiers are sharing war content on social media platforms directly from the battlefield. Zelensky has managed to garner immense support for him and his country from far across the world including Tokyo and the USA.
The White house has briefed 30 TikTok influences on the war. 'Everyone is an information warrior these days', says an advisor to the Ukrainian government who has readied teams of social media managers who, on an everyday basis, roll out memes and patriotic content for domestic audience on twitter, TikTok and Instagram. The information war has set a narrative of a new Ukraine amongst Europeans who are perceived to fear Vladimir Putin. It has created a sense of dislike towards Russia in the USA as well.
