#FreeYakutia: How a Viral Meme Turned Into a Conversation About Independence
Humor, propaganda, and political imagination during the first months of the war
In the first weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, reality became difficult to process. Cities were under attack, families were hiding in underground stations, and millions of people were trapped in a constant cycle of fear, stress, and doom scrolling.
Like many Ukrainians, I spent hours reading terrible news. At some point, my brain simply stopped functioning normally. After visiting a subway station filled with families sheltering from missile strikes, I remember sitting in complete emotional shock. To calm down, I watched old Looney Tunes cartoons for almost an hour just to reset my mind.
That strange emotional state created something unexpected: dark humor became a survival mechanism.
And from that atmosphere, the idea of #FreeYakutia was born.
Comedy During Wartime
During the early months of the invasion, many Ukrainian comedians and streamers started creating...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to hackernoon.com. To see the full text click HERE
