Ukraine mocks Putin and advises Russian soldiers not to smoke on their bases to ‘avoid misfortunes’

With the sinking of the ship Moscow, jewel of the Russian crown in the Black Sea, the Ukrainians described what happened as ‘Special Submarine Operation’ in clear reference to the Russian terminology to describe the invasion. “The heroic Russian cruiser has been promoted to a submarine,” was another of the memes, after the Russian authorities assured that the sinking had been due to an accident. This week the jokes about the alleged Ukrainian attack on Russian occupation bases in Crimea have returned. Attacking the peninsula can be understood as a humiliation for the Russian president, for whom Crimea is a sacred territory of Russia.

Mykhailo Podolyak, when asked by the Dozhd TV channel if kyiv took responsibility, he replied: “Of course not. What do we have to do with this? Ukraine has not publicly confirmed Ukrainian responsibility for the attacks in Crimea, but a high-ranking Ukrainian military commander has assured the Washington Post that it was Ukrainian forces that had carried out an attack on the Saki air base on the west coast of Ukraine. Crimea. Of course, it was not done with the weapons sent by the US.

Officially, however, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said it did not know the origin of the explosion and recommended base personnel to “respect the no-smoking rules” in the vicinity. His twitter account then tweeted a photo of a large black cloud of smoke with the following message: “The presence of occupation troops on the territory of Ukrainian Crimea is not compatible with the high tourist season.”

Suddenly the Ukrainian networks were filled with comments about someone smoking near the ammunition depots in occupied Crimea. “Somehow I get the feeling that smoking Russian ammo depots and fuel supplies might not be a very good idea,” he tweeted. Illia Ponomarenkoa reporter for The Kyiv Independent.

The pro-Russian authorities in Crimea have declared a state of emergency following the explosions at the Russian air base. According to Russian media, representatives of the Kremlin on the peninsula have reported that one person has died and 14 others have been injured in the explosions in Novofedorivka on August 9.

Hours before that balance, a pro-Russian spokesman, with an incredible resemblance to Leslie Nielsen In the movie ‘The Naked Pistol’, he seemed to imitate that famous scene (turned into a recurring gif on networks) in which he assured that everything was under control and that there was no need to worry despite the imposing smoke that spread behind him. And, of course, the comparisons have not been slow to appear.

Once again, irony plays an important role for Ukrainians in coping with the stress, uncertainty and violence that surrounds them.