Russia unleashed a series of missile strikes on Ukraine overnight, killing at least 11 people. As the war grinds on, social media continues to serve as a go-to resource to follow and understand the human toll, military strategy and political to-and-fro of the conflict.
Crikey has compiled a couple of social accounts worth a look.
A face to a name
Gulliver Cragg is a Kyiv-based correspondent for France 24. He covers the ins and outs of everyday life for Ukrainians. In the past few days, he’s tweeted about young children taking their classes train-side, and a YouTube musical sensation playing to a pub instead of a stadium to raise funds for the Ukrainian army.
Local journalist Oleksiy Sorokin works for The Kyiv Independent. He adds meaning to Russia’s attacks by sharing the carnage, confusion and coping mechanisms of impacted Ukrainians. After a series of missile strikes on Kyiv yesterday, reported to have killed at least five and injured 12, he shared a video of Ukrainians taking shelter and singing, an illustration of inside a bomb shelter, and a bright red trail of blood with the simple caption: “Kyiv right now.”
Let’s talk strategy
Angel investor and entrepreneur Naval Ravikant has compiled a “war” list packed with choice of weaponry, territorial gains and losses, maps, and all-round war tactics. (Some of these come with a content warning.) To pull out a few: @Osinttechnical specialises in visually confirmed losses, @JominiW and @War_Mapper share maps, @WarMonitor3 is known for making early calls on changes to territory, @MarkHertling is a retired US army general and chimes in with high-level strategy, and analyst @OAlexanderDK has strong intel on the gas pipeline and Kerch Bridge.
The Russian Telegram channel Rybar is also a go-to resource for a lot of internet strategists. Despite its Russian leanings, it’s been known to call a lot of Ukrainian counteroffensives quicker than many of the pro-Ukrainian channels. A lot of the Rybar maps also wind up in the “war” list.
Politics and power plays
Look no further than the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Tweeting in both Ukrainian and English, Zelenskyy documents his international demands and dealings with foreign leaders for all to see. In the past day, he’s had conversations with US President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Angola President João Lourenço, UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, and the list goes on.
