The rivalry between Ukraine and Russia is well known and documented. Russia’s encroachment into the Eastern territory of Ukraine has turned the rivalry into open conflict.
The conflict doesn’t seem to be restricted to the physical realm. On Tuesday, the official Twitter accounts of Ukraine and Russia engaged in a short Twitter feud over the heritage of the respective Eastern European nations.
The feud began when the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with newly elected French president, Emmanuel Macron, stated that France and Russia shared a historical connection as one French queen was of Russian origin.
Ukrainian officials were quick to point out that Queen Anne was in fact Anne of Kiev. Kiev or Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine and was the historical origin for the Russian empire. Ukraine’s official Twitter account soon posted on the social media platform, pointed out that Moscow did not exist when Anne of Kiev established relations with France.
When @Russia says Anne de Kiev established Russia-France relations, let us remind the sequence of events pic.twitter.com/nBKhQdyKql
— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) May 30, 2017
Russia’s reply sought to establish the fact that the comment was meant to promote the shared heritage of Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, a factor that would unite the Eastern European nations.
We are proud of our common history. 🇷🇺, 🇺🇦 & 🇧🇾 share the same historical heritage which should unite our nations, not divide us. pic.twitter.com/hdmkuGy22p
— РоссиЯ 🇷🇺 (@Russia) May 30, 2017
Ukraine, not in the mood to let Russia’s supposed annexation of its heritage go unnoticed, responded with a GIF from The Simpsons, in an effort to compare Russia’s move to annex with that of the Soviet Union.
You really don’t change, do you? pic.twitter.com/HDfS9A8jWZ
— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) May 30, 2017
One thing is certain. There is no love lost between the two historic rivals.
