Ani Lorak's donations for AFU, Lebigovich presidency, and UFOs over Kyiv: the main meme news of 2023

This year was certainly an emotionally difficult one for all Ukrainians, but from time to time social media found another reason to mock the enemy or just smile at some life situation. Sometimes Ukrainian politicians and stars amused us with their ridiculousness, but more often it was the enemy country where news about the explosions - which are dubbed "bavovna" (cotton) in Ukraine - were reported en masse.

OBOZ.UA has collected the most memorable news memes of 2023.

Batko nash Bandera (Bandera is our father)

It all started in the first days of January 2023 when Russian propagandists published a story that Ukrainian soldiers had made a portrait of Stepan Bandera out of the bodies of the dead occupiers in the snow. The network's reaction, of course, was not long in coming.

Russian woman's costume at Miss Universe

Next, Ukrainians somehow did not appreciate (kind of obvious why) the representative of Russia, who showed off her "peace nature" at the semifinals of Miss Universe in the United States. They suggested her to try black bags, traditional for the occupiers, or a toilet bowl which the Russian invaders so enthusiastically took away during the invasion.

Air defense hysteria

Meanwhile, in Russia, along with stories about the complete destruction of Ukrainian weapons and the defeat of the Armed Forces in general, they began to install air defense systems in Moscow itself. Of course, this caused a lot of jokes online.

It got even more fun when it became obvious that Russian air defense is about the same as British scientists were at one time. So the explosions in the Kremlin was a nice May addition.

Against the backdrop of the obvious ridiculousness of Russian air defense, it was quite logical that Putin presented the military with a protective icon during his visit to the temporarily occupied Kherson region. The network appreciated it.

Everything finally became clear when Russian air defense began to hit its own aircraft and shot down two helicopters and two fighters in May. A little later, however, there were hints that it was a very high-quality work of Patriot systems, but that's just the way it is...

Send us to Ukraine, man

In the same January, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also became the hero of Ukrainian jokes as he had been delaying the shipment of the first Leopard 2 tanks for a long time. It got to the point where not only Ukrainians but also the world media were joking.

Phuket's territorial defence

Meanwhile, while Ukrainians were defending the country, our "dear" politicians continued the glorious traditions. Thus, in Thailand, the People's Deputy "servant" Mykola Tyshchenko, who was holding a "meeting with the Ukrainian community" there, bacame a laughingstock.

Biden and Ukrainian perepichka

One of the most significant international visits to Kyiv in 2023, when US President Joe Biden visited the capital of Ukraine, was not without memes. The old man was even shown the capital's most iconic places.

Putin in The Hague

In March, Ukrainians were lively discussing the decision of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which issued an arrest warrant for the Russian aggressor president. Of course, everyone understood that such a warrant was just a formality for the head of state, who is afraid to appear in public, but nevertheless ...

UFOs over Kyiv

There was also some paranormal activity. In April 2023, an unexplained green flash occurred over the Ukrainian capital, which at first scared Ukrainians quite a bit, but then, when the first moments of stress passed, turned into a rather funny joke with references to the almighty Patriot.

Ani Lorak makes "donations" to the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Serhii Sternenko's joke about the traitorous singer helping the Ukrainian army was spread literally overnight. It was picked up by Russian propagandists, and Lorak herself even started having problems and canceling concerts. As they say, "ОХРАНА ОТМЕНА" (song by Jerry Heil)

We came in peace

Another amusing situation occurred when leaders of several African republics came to Ukraine with "peace initiatives" and immediately came under a new attack from Russia. It was then that the online community realized why drums were purchased for Kyiv bomb shelters.

Poor Nastya

But enough about politics. In June 2023, Nastya Kamenskykh tried to move Ukrainians with her acting talents when she talked about her life without Potap, who was in Spain. For some reason, Ukrainians did not appreciate it...

The second coming in Makiivka

In July 2023, the defenders of Ukraine hit the occupiers' ammunition depot in Makiivka. The explosion was so spectacular that many people saw a sign in the fire that rose over the site of the attack. It was either Jesus, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's character from the TV series "Servant of the People", or maybe Mykhailo Poplavskyi himself. Choose your fighter, as they say.

A joke that got out of hand

It was quite hot in Ukraine in August, so it's no surprise that a rather unfunny joke suddenly turned into a burning meme, and streamer Mykhailo Lebigovich became almost the main presidential candidate. "Lebigovich is our everything."

Congratulations on a f***ed-up summer

Quite unexpectedly, as always, many Ukrainians have discovered that they have somehow missed the summer, and the calendar is already on August 31. How this happened and what happened to the 90 days of summer is still a mystery.

Is Putin dead?

The dear Chinese tried to bring some good news to Ukrainians, but it didn't work out in the end. They even put Putin in a coffin, but he still didn't die. Try harder, Comrade Xi.

Eat it or go to hell

This saying can best describe what Russian woman Margo cooked in her kitchen. Only Satan knows why the woman called this mess, which she is ashamed to give to pigs, borscht. But it is what it is. Ukrainians who saw the master's kitchen said they almost threw up.

Patron the Dog

When it seemed that the excitement about the popular Ukrainian dog Patron had subsided a bit and everyone had somehow calmed down, the Internet discovered that a poem about the dog can be set to almost any popular tune. Put on your headphones and listen.

Kyivstar is tired

At the end of the year, Ukrainians were a little stressed and then laughed when Kyivstar mobile network went down across the country. But all's well that ends well.

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