“Russian soldier, stop. Remember your family. Go home with a clear conscience.” “Special offer: See Ukraine and die. Cocktails included”. The posters that dot the streets and highways of Ukraine are rewritten with phrases of encouragement, humor and messages addressed to Russian soldiers.
With the war, Ukrainian advertising signs changed their content. They no longer try to sell products to the consumer, but they seek to encourage the troops, appeal to divine protection and want to convince the Russian military that this is not their fight.
On the streets of the southern city of Odessa, some 150 kilometers from the combat front, it is common to see signs in the national colors of blue and yellow signed by the Army, the Navy, the Police or the City Council, but also by Ukrainian churches.
They support the troops, call for enlistment and try to instill confidence in the population. “The Army protects your peace of mind. 4.5.0.”, says one of them with the three figures that, in Ukrainian military language, mean that there are no dangers in sight.
They differ from other numbers such as 300 for the wounded, which are carried by the vans that transport them to health centers, or 200, which indicates that there are deaths in the war inside the vehicles.
“Superheroes dress as military”
Many seek to encourage the Ukrainian military and invite their citizens to fight alongside them. “In our confidence, your strength,” says one of them, and another states, along with a phone number: “We will protect our homes, we will protect Ukraine. Enlist in the territorial defenses.”
“Real superheroes wear military clothing”, “in our trust, your strength” and “I trust the Army of Ukraine” read three banners supporting the troops, and a fourth instructing Ukrainians: “If you see the enemy, report on Telegram,” he says in reference to the most widely used messaging network in the country and where most of its inhabitants follow the latest news.
In some cases they are addressed, in the Russian language, directly to the enemy military. “Russian soldier, stop. Don’t take lives for Putin. Come back with a clean soul”, “don’t be a murderer, go away”, “Russian soldier, stop. How are you going to look into your son’s eyes?” or “don’t kill for Putin’s oligarchs” are some of them.
There are those who resort to humor, like the one who sells the Russian trip to Ukraine as a tourist “special offer”, with a plan that is anything but attractive: “See Ukraine and die”. “Cocktails included,” he adds in reference to homemade Molotov cocktails.
“Russian ship, fuck ’em!”
And there is no lack of signs that refer to the already viral phrase that the Ukrainian soldiers stationed on the Snake Island, an islet in the Black Sea, blurted out to a Russian ship that asked them to surrender a day after the beginning of the invasion.
“Russian ship, screw them!” reads a huge billboard in the streets of Odessa showing a red Kremlin-shaped ship sinking in a sea of blood.
The thirteen Ukrainian soldiers on this uninhabited islet, now heroes, refused to surrender and died under Russian fire.
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To counter the Russian rhetoric, there are posters referring to history, in a city that was besieged for more than two months by the Nazis and resisted tooth and nail. “1941, fascist occupiers. 2022, Russian occupiers,” says one, and another refers to the Russian Z symbol of the invasion as “the new swastika for the new fascism.”
On the roads near Odessa, the signs that until a month ago indicated the direction of the nearest towns have been erased so as not to give clues to the enemy. Instead, some show arrows pointing in various directions with the phrase from Snake Island: “To Russia, screw you.”
Ukraine is a country where around 85% of the population declares itself to be a believer and its different Orthodox Christian churches are also ideologically involved in the conflict. For this reason, some of the cartels appeal to a superior force.
“God will give strength to his people” or “Holy mother, protect Ukraine” are some of those that can be seen on the Ukrainian streets, today converted into a resource for advertising in times of war. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
