Ukraine and Russia today got into an all out Twitter war, with GIFs and all, much to the delight of Twitter users who could not believe their eyes at watching two countries, and their official Twitter accounts bicker like you and me do!
If you have not followed World News for a few years now, let me just get you up to date about the bad blood between Ukraine and Russia that has existed for years now, but got worse when Russia, or Vladimir Putin to be precise, threatened/claimed he could invade and annex Kiev in two weeks if he wanted to.
Here’s how the Twitter feud between the countries began.
When @Russia says Anne de Kiev established Russia-France relations, let us remind the sequence of events pic.twitter.com/nBKhQdyKql
— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) May 30, 2017
And then pop came a reply from Russia.
We are proud of our common history. ??, ?? & ?? share the same historical heritage which should unite our nations, not divide us. pic.twitter.com/hdmkuGy22p
— РоссиЯ ?? (@Russia) May 30, 2017
And then it began..
Ukraine responded with a GIF from Simpsons.
You really don't change, do you? pic.twitter.com/HDfS9A8jWZ
— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) May 30, 2017
And then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Russia tweeted this. Yes, this is the official account of a Government Ministry in Russia.
Don't be jealous, @Ukraine. In 1051 Kiev was capital of the united #Rus which included territories of modern ??, ?? and ??. pic.twitter.com/TMX5KiGAPl
— MFA Russia ?? (@mfa_russia) May 30, 2017
To which, Ukraine responded with a Benedict Cumberbatch GIF!
Kyivan Rus stretched to modern-day areas of ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? too. Don’t give the “triune nation” nonsense pls and comply with int law pic.twitter.com/DVO9NToZiP
— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) May 30, 2017
Okay we know you’re looking for some context as to why Ukraine started what they did.
Valdimir Putin, met the newly elected French President, Emmanuel Macron, someone who Russian publications had opposed, instead backing Marine Le Pen, Macron’s opponent in the elections. During the meeting, Vladimir Putin’s speech included a reference to the French-Russian friendship which he claimed went back to the 11th century, naming a “French queen from eastern Europe named Anne. Putin described her as “Russian Ani,” pointing to her a symbol of cooperation between the two countries.” as reported by Vox.
Although that was not entirely true since Anne was known as Anne of Kiev, which is the capital of Ukraine, and the city Putin claimed to have in two weeks.
— #LetMyPeopleGLO (@MichellCClark) May 30, 2017
Ukraine’s tweet was nothing but a potshot aimed at Russia, and Putin’s claims of Anne being Russian, and Russia tried to play it down with their reply. But Ukraine was having none of it. Their Simpson GIF reply made Twitter users stop and take notice of the conversation, and out came the popcorn.
And then Ukraine's Ambassador to Austria decided to join in with this quip!
.@Ukraine @Russia
Russia. A severe case of princess envy.— olexander scherba (@olex_scherba) May 30, 2017
Can you imagine a war that began on Twitter? Over a tweet? Like it could literally go from tweets and GIFs to bullets and missiles, and considering the man at the other end is Vladimir Putin, there is a pretty high chance for that one.
We know you were all expecting that if a war ever broke out over a tweet, it would be caused by Donald Trump, but sadly, all Mr. Trump could give us today was ‘covfefe’.