The First Real-Time War
Seven days.
For seven days, the world has had unprecedented access to the intricacies of war. Thanks to social media, citizens from around the globe have been able to witness first-hand what happens when an aggressor invades a sovereign nation. The footage coming out of Ukraine on social media has run the gauntlet of emotions from inspiring and motivational to somber and gut-wrenching. We've seen the chaos at the Poland border. We've seen the anxiousness of those waiting to board what may very well be the last train out of Kyiv. We've seen students throwing Molotov cocktails out of car windows and sharing how to drive a Russian tank via TikTok. And we've seen a defiant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy assure his people and the world that he is still standing and that he is not going away anytime soon.
This is the first war to be broadcast in this way. That is not to say that there haven't been other, 21st-century conflicts. But what's happening in Ukraine is different. It has to be said that since Ukraine is a fairly wealthy, European nation with a majority White population, the war there is received much differently than in an African or a Middle Eastern country. The majority of those on social media can see themselves in the Ukrainian people. They look like them and share the same physical characteristics. Their public parks look like ours. Their cities have similar layouts and landmarks. The people may speak a different language, but their body language is near-universal. When people from across the globe tune in to social media, the distant land of Ukraine doesn't feel that distant at all.
That is why for many of us, this war feels different. It feels like we are actually there. The videos on social media are powerful. Seeing children playing games while hiding in an underground bunker. Hearing soldiers tell a Russian warship to go fuck itself. Seeing an elderly grandmother offer a Russian soldier sunflower seeds so that when he dies something beautiful grows in his place. Witnessing a bomb strike, partially leveling a building. Watching as Russian fighter planes are shot down out of the sky. Never before have so many events and so many parts of war been available to the general public. Whereas in the past, we received limited information and news coverage coming from war zones, what we have in Ukraine is unprecedented access to information, devoid of government censorship. We are not seeing an illustrated map of a four-mile-long Russian convoy, we are seeing a video of the convoy itself. Never before has an average global citizen had this type of unfettered access to the scope of the invasion of an aggressor nation.
Vladimir Putin badly misplayed his hand. While his iron fist has effectively shut down dissent in Russia, what he has not been able to do is manipulate the information coming out of Ukraine to a worldwide audience. The Russian people may not be receiving accurate wartime information at home but for 200 countries throughout the globe, the actions of the Russian military are on clear display. When you have a video of a defenseless hospital being bombed, it's hard to claim that your military was acting "in self-defense" against the Nazi aggressors. That type of propaganda may work in Putin's inner circle but on the world stage, that shit does not fly. The Hague has evidence, clear as day, of these atrocities. Putin can deny all he wants but the videos do not lie, no matter how much he himself does. The world is a witness and social media has allowed us all to be there, watching these events unfold in real-time.
While Putin struggles to grip this reality, President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people have excelled. Zelenskyy has been defiant and inspirational, refusing to abandon his people in their time of need. Each video he posts simultaneously inspires his own people and mocks Vladimir Putin for being unable to dispose of him in what he hoped would be a quick little war. The Ukrainian people have also shared their unbelievable hospitality to Russian troops, showing videos of captured soldiers being allowed to call their parents. Not only do videos like these endear the Ukrainian people to the world but they also dispel the myth that Putin's army is blindly loyal to him and his ambitions. By showing these soldiers to be nothing more than scared young men, the Ukrainian people are continuing to show that nobody, on either side, truly wants this war and the only person who does is Vladimir Putin.
We often talk about winning the hearts and minds of a population during war. That phrasing is often used when discussing an invading army. But what we are now realizing is that through social media the hearts and minds of a global community can also be won. There is near-universal praise of Ukraine on social media. Profiles have added Ukrainian flags. Organizations are being identified that can provide on-the-ground support. Pro-Putin stooges are getting raked over the coals. And Vladimir Putin himself has become a pariah. He's not even a joke or a caricature at this point. He is evil. He is heinous. He is dastardly. Seeing him wage war on the sovereign people of Ukraine has infuriated even the biggest pacifists among us. Social media has lain bare Putin's naked aggression and the extent to which he will go in his hostile takeover. We are all witnessing Putin's war but we are seeing it from the Ukrainian point of view. For Vladimir Putin, this was the worst thing that could have happened.
And for the Ukrainian people, it might very well be their saving grace.