In the early hours of February 24, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine in what Russia claims was “a special military operation.” However, Ukraine and its allies see the invasion as an act of war. Since this morning’s invasion, the situation has garnered an extreme amount of coverage, coverage by traditional print and digital outlets as well as social media platforms with real-time updates. Due to the advance of technology, we as a public are able to tune into the horrors happening on the other side of the world right from the phone in the palm of our hands.
Many of the major historical wars we learn about in school are documented with post-war paintings, think of “Washington Crossing the Delaware,” or black and white pictures shared after the fact using the camera technology available at the time. Our insight into the lives of those fighting in past wars or caught in the crossfires are from letters or diaries kept during the time period or books later published by war veterans such as Tim O’Brien, Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, and many more. However, as firsthand as these accounts are, there’s opportunity for filtration of the truth, especially in published novels and to a lesser extent personal writings and letters.
Now we have social media as another outlet to convey real-time happenings and the realities of the lives people are living who are caught in the midst. In recent years, Twitter has established itself as a platform conducive to breaking news and live updates. Since Thursday morning, we’ve seen an outpouring of grief and support for those in Ukraine. ‘Ukraine’ is trending at the top of the platform along with search terms ‘Putin’ and ‘Biden.’
The most shocking form of war coverage so far has been videos on Tik Tok. One account in particular, VICE World News (@viceworldnews), has a video of correspondent Matthew Cassel giving a quick breakdown of the morning’s events in the midst of frantic crowds trying to flee with a background sound of air raid sirens. There’s another video of him interviewing a Ukraine resident trying to leave Kyiv about his feelings on the situation and why he’s leaving. The Ukrainian man said, “I have a fear. I have an instinct and I want to live, so I need to leave.” Another video features a young Ukrainian woman donating blood for the soldiers fighting Russian troops. The woman said, “It’s the only way I can help. I’m not a warrior. I can’t fight. But I can donate my blood and it may save some life, maybe more than one.”
With videos such as these popping up on American’s Tik Tok ‘For You Pages,’ it’s impossible for those of us on the other side of the world to feign ignorance to the war breaking out in Eastern Europe. Social media gives people in Ukraine the power to show the world what’s happening in their country. The power of social media in the hands of the people is potentially a way to put more pressure on Russia and also hopefully offer more support to Ukraine.
Thursday morning, NATO held an emergency session about the invasion. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg condemned Russia’s actions and has assured the world that NATO will support Ukraine. So far, NATO’s defense plans have been activated, but troops will not be deployed inside Ukraine. They plan to meet again Friday morning to address and respond to further developments.
We don’t know what will happen next, but what is known, the world will be watching.
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