The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been mocked for posting comments on social media comparing Ukraine’s war against Russia as a struggle comparable to the likes of Harry Potter, Star Wars, and the Marvel movie franchise.
Just one day before the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion, the official Twitter account for the NATO military alliance has come under criticism for a post that said Ukraine is “hosting one of the great epics of this century” and compared the war to Hollywood movies.
The post, which quoted a Ukrainian soldier named Pavlo, said: “We are Harry Potter and William Wallace, the Na’vi and Han Solo. We’re escaping from Shawshank and blowing up the Death Star. We are fighting with the Harkonnens and challenging Thanos.”
The idea of comparing the war, which has claimed thousands of lives, seen widespread destruction, and destabalised the world’s food and energy supplies, to fictional characters was quickly deried by many on the social media platform.
Responding to the post, American Republican Congressman Paul Gosar said: “We’re being forced into a third World War by people who write tweets like this.”
Independent journalist Micheal Tracey said: “While this tweet may seem like ridiculous self-parody, it’s an authentic reflection of how “Western” officialdom encourages the moral and ideological dimensions of the war to be viewed through the prism of commercial mass entertainment”.
The official account for the Libertarian Party in Arizona added: “You’re not Harry Potter, you’re an entangling alliance engaging in nuclear brinksmanship. Stop writing subpar fan fiction and try to broker peace. If you can’t manage that, you are unfit to exist.”
Although the now long-running conflict between Russia and Ukraine has cycled for nearly a decade through phases of Russian military action and Western political and material influence, it appears that the conflict is entering into yet another period of escalation, threatening many more lives and the possibility of spreading beyond the so-far regional conflict.
Last week, at the Munich Security Conference, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that NATO countries should strap in for a “long war” with Russia in Ukraine,
At the same meeting in Germany, British Prime Rishi Sunak said that the United Kingdom will become the first NATO country to supply Ukraine with “longer range weapons“, with the possiblity of being used in attempt to reclaim Russian controlled Crimea, or possibly for attacks on the Russian mainland. The escalation came as the British government has also admitted that it is considering sending fighter jets to the Ukrainian forces.
Just days after the Munich Conference, Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced that his country would be withdrawing from the only remaining nuclear arms treaty with the United States.
“The Western elite does not conceal their goal, which is to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. It means to finish us forever and grow a local conflict into global opposition,” Putin warned. “This is exactly how we understand it all and we will react accordingly, because in this case we are talking about the existence of our country.”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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