Ukraine’s Nuclear Meme Wave
19.10.2024
Twitter was abuzz with nuclear weapons memes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine’s security hinges on either joining NATO or acquiring nuclear weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine’s security relies on either joining NATO or obtaining nuclear weapons. Speaking at the European Council summit, he reminded leaders of Ukraine’s decision to relinquish its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal in 1994 under the Budapest Memorandum, in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the U.S., and the U.K.
On Wednesday, Zelenskyy also outlined his Victory plan to the Kyiv parliament, aimed at ending the war with Russia. The plan includes securing a formal invitation to join NATO and continuing arms shipments to pressure Russia into negotiations.
It began seemingly innocently and literally pieces together Zelenskyy’s speech:
However, it quickly evolved into something like this.
Some suggested that, instead of Ukraine joining NATO, it should be NATO invited to join Ukraine.
The most prominent figures of the Ukrainian society were also featured.
Budanov also appears in an AI-generated Oppenheimer video humorously titled “Budanov After Being Tasked with Leading Ukraine’s Nuclear Program.”
The creator of the nuclear bomb, Robert Oppenheimer, was humorously “Ukrainianized” by adding traditional Cossack features and changing his last name to “Oppenheimenko,” giving him a playful Ukrainian twist.
The “Ze-bomb” or “Ternopyl-M,” a parody of Russia’s Topol-M missile, humorously combines traditional Ukrainian embroidery with the design elements of Zelenskyy’s party’s election campaign, blending cultural pride with political satire.
Zelenskyy was also depicted as the main character in Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”.
Not only films were referenced, but classic Ukrainian cartoons as well. “The Cossacks” (Ukrainian: Козаки) series, a beloved collection of animated comedy shorts originally produced by Kyivnaukfilm and later by UkrAnimaFilm and Baraban studios, also made an appearance. In the memes, all three iconic Cossacks were humorously depicted carrying nuclear bombs. The original script and direction of the series were created by Volodymyr Dakhno.
NAFO jumped on the trend, rebranding itself with a playful twist as the “North Atomic Fellas Organization and picturing NAFO avatar as a nuclear bomb.
A Finnish NAFO member proposed a clever merch idea: a “MUNA” cap—playing on the word for “egg” in both Finnish and Estonian—with the slogan “Make Ukraine Nuclear Again.” The design humorously parodies the MAGA (Make America Great Again) hats popularized by Trump supporters and also refers to the “Ukraine – a country with balls” slogan.
Pes Patron, Ukraine’s most famous detection dog and mascot for the State Emergency Service, is shown wearing protective gear and a gas mask, with his name playfully changed to Pes PROTON.
“Discussion on nuclear weapons should also be directed against Russia’s nuclear threats. Ukraine points out that it is possible to counterbalance Russia’s nuclear blackmail,” assessed war blogger Rainer Saks. “The Ukrainian president probably got a bit too carried away with his performance. Later, he and several Ukrainian authorities had to confirm that Ukraine is not developing a nuclear bomb and does not plan such activities in the future.”
The actions of meme creators specifically helped to counterbalance Russia’s nuclear blackmail.
If you have encountered any interesting memes, please send them to Propastop, and we will gratefully include them in our post!
The Brief – Ukraine’s Nuclear Option
It could either become a NATO member or develop nuclear weapons.
by Euractiv | October 19, 2024, 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made it plain in Brussels on Oct. 17: if his country does not get a NATO invite immediately, it will develop nuclear weapons.
Facing the press after his participation at the EU summit, Zelenskyy was asked how he hoped to convince the US President, whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, that Ukraine should receive an official invitation to join NATO “right now”.
Receiving an invitation to join NATO "right now" is at the top of the five points from his ‘Victory Plan’, which he presented to EU leaders the same day.
He said he would give an example of a conversation he had on this issue.
“I talked to Trump about NATO. There are different signals in the media about his attitude. I gave him the example of the Budapest memorandum,” he said.
Under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine surrendered its numerous Soviet-era nuclear weapons in exchange for guarantees from Russia, the US, the UK, France, and China to respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.
But as we all know, none of the Western powers came to the defence of Ukraine when Russia launched its full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022.
"Which country gave up its nuclear weapons? All of them? Only Ukraine. Who is fighting today? Only Ukraine. That is a fact. In my conversation with Donald Trump, I said to him, 'What is the way out?' Either Ukraine will have again nuclear weapons - and then it will be a certain protection for us - or we must have some alliance. Apart from NATO, we do not know any effective alliances today," said Zelenskyy.
Other Topics of Interest
Zelensky's 'Victory Plan' Finds Doubters in Kyiv
Its announcement comes as Ukraine faces mounting pressure to find an exit strategy as its troops suffer battlefield losses and Moscow intensifies its strikes on infrastructure.
But he stressed Ukraine was "choosing NATO", not nuclear weapons, and that Trump heard him.
We can only imagine what Zelenskyy told leaders in private. But from what he said to the press, it is pretty clear that he warned them that Ukraine would either become a member of NATO or develop nuclear weapons.
Newsweek was one of the rare Western publications to print on this issue, titled “Ukraine Issues Nuclear Ultimatum to NATO”. Similar headlines appeared in Eastern European countries, which seem to have a stronger sensibility when it comes to nuclear hard talk.
Presenting the ‘Victory plan’ to the Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said, “For us, determination on the NATO issue for Ukraine also means the inevitability of European integration for Ukraine and the fact that there is no alternative to democracy in Ukraine. And that is why this is the initial point of the Victory Plan. The first and very important. The sign of determination. This is what the invitation is. The unconditional invitation right now.”
The second point of the Victory Plan is about defence.
Zelenskyy told his members of parliament, “The defence point of the plan has a secret annexe, and it is accessible only to those partners who have the appropriate military assistance capabilities.”
This is not very difficult to translate. The partners that have nuclear weapons are the USA, France and the UK.
We already wrote last February – “Brace for nuclear proliferation!”. Where we pointed out that Ukraine a country with historic know-how regarding nuclear and missile technologies, is a country at war when democratic checks and balances take the back seat, so we should not be surprised if they are already working on a nuclear programme.
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Yesterday’s statements seem to confirm our apprehension.
To understand Ukraine’s message - the fifth point of the ‘Victory Plan’ provides some hints, covering the post-war period.
“We envisage if our partners agree, replacing certain military contingents of the United States Armed Forces stationed in Europe with Ukrainian units after the war. Ukrainians have proven that they can be the force that Russian evil cannot overcome,” Zelenskyy said.
That is certainly an offer Trump would like very much.
In essence, he left the impression that he is preparing for all eventualities, including a Trump presidency taking top consideration.
What remains to be seen is the reaction of other NATO partners. Our sources say that some of them find Zelenskyy’s declarations rather reckless.
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