Before the internet, countries took to the battlefield to settle differences. While Russia and Ukraine are actively sparring over details of their territories, both countries have this week extended that conflict to Twitter.
The two countries’ verified accounts had a standoff regarding one particular detail of history: the origins of French monarch Anna Yaroslavna of Kiev who was born in the area considered to be modern day Kiev — the capital of Ukraine.
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The argument was the result of a remark made by Russian president Vladimir Putin in a press conference with French president Emmanuel Macron earlier this week, calling Anna Yaroslavna “Russian Anne”.
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
Yes, that’s a picture mocking the then-underdeveloped city of Moscow, Russia’s modern capital.
This isn’t the first time Russia and Ukraine has fought over a seemingly trivial element of their history
Ukraine also mentioned Russia directly in the post, which prompted the country’s account to reply with this.
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
Ukraine though was seemingly not in a diplomatic mood, craftily whipping out a remarkably appropriate GIF from The Simpsons.
You really don’t change, do you? pic.twitter.com/HDfS9A8jWZ
— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) May 30, 2017
Player three then entered the game.
MFA Russia — the official account of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation — dubbed Ukraine “jealous”, suggesting that Kiev was previously the capital of Kievan Rus — a federation comprising of a number of other states, including Belarus and Russia itself.
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
But that didn’t conclude the conversation. Ukraine listed a further six countries not mentioned by MFA Russia, asking the account to not “give the “triune nation nonsense pls and comply with int law [sic]”.
And yes, the account also slapped in a GIF of Benedict Cumberbatch too for good measure.
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
And that’s where the exchange ended.
It was one of the more notable twars that took place yesterday, and for a brief moment held the interest of some on the social network. This reaction probably sums up exactly what Twitter’s watching population felt.
— #LetMyPeopleGLO (@MichellCClark) May 30, 2017
Russia and Ukraine’s relations have taken a dire toll in recent years, with the former frequently traipsing across the latter’s borders since 2014.
But while the two countries are still engaged in physical warfare over the likes of Crimea and a number of other oblasts (a conflict that has cost the lives of over 8000 people), the two countries have fought about other strange historical issues in the past.
Most notably, a fight for the origins of beloved fairytale characters in 2011.
