A look back at the repercussions of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which marked the world in 2022.
The Vietnam War was the first televised war, the Gulf War, the first broadcast without interruption on the news channels continuously. The war in Ukraine will go down in history as the first war captured by smart phones.
” [Ces appareils] changed the way of war. It’s here to stay”, confirms David Grondin, who teaches the course war and communication at the University of Montreal.
Any Ukrainian armed with a phone becomes an information soldier. A “blurred barrier between combatant and non-combatant” stands in the territories at war despite “the dangers that are linked to this all the time”, observes the specialist. “In spite of themselves, civilians become witnesses, become relayers of information, but ultimately also targets. It is documented, there were civilians who were shot because they had phones in their hands. »
The Ukrainian State can nevertheless count on this army of witnesses to prove the foundations of its political claims. The explosions of the first bombs went around the world the very day they fell, demonstrating to everyone the cruelty of the Russians. The images of destroyed enemy tanks then proved that Zelensky’s army could defend itself, justifying the delivery of weapons. It is now the turn of the testimonies of Ukrainian families plunged into darkness to flood the news feeds, raising empathy in Europe. And the resulting humanitarian aid.
The Ukrainian successes are based on a “decentralized mode, centered on the networks, with a certain form of autonomy given to the soldiers”, notes David Grondin. “This is the big difference with the Russian military which depends on a central authoritarian power. »
The world, this audience that participates
It’s not just Ukrainians who are taking part in this war effort. All sorts of new volunteers enlist behind their keyboards.
The soldiers appeal to the generosity of the public to buy equipment, through crowdfunding campaigns.
President Volodymyr Zelensky himself launched such a campaign to finance the war. The jackpot has reached over US$248 million so far. Neighboring countries have imitated it in order to finance the purchase of military equipment. For example, Czechia collects money for tanks and Lithuania sociofinances the purchase of drones.
Otherwise, amateur or professional analysts follow the news arriving from the front step by step, until they provide a real-time map of the theater of war.
“There are also a lot of memes on the war in Ukraine. They fuel the discourse. The state itself reacts. There are people assigned to do it, ”notes David Grondin.
Zelensky and his team flood the Internet with this type of propaganda messages, not to mention the daily presidential address relayed on all possible social networks. Since the war is also won in hearts and minds, Ukraine has already won on this ground.