The Cable
The Cable goes inside the foreign policy machine, from Foggy Bottom to Turtle Bay, the White House to Embassy Row.

And Now, a Brief Explanation as to Why Russia and Ukraine Are Fighting on Twitter:

It all started in 1051...

By , a global affairs journalist and the author of The Influence of Soros and Bad Jews.
rus
rus

Russia and Ukraine are engaged in a heated Twitter back-and-forth featuring some facts, several emoji, and a Simpsons gif.

Russia and Ukraine are engaged in a heated Twitter back-and-forth featuring some facts, several emoji, and a Simpsons gif.

What happened is this: On Monday, in his meeting at Versailles with French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned a royal Anna of Russia. He was referring, of course, to Anna, daughter of Kievan Rus Prince Yaroslav the Wise. She became French royalty when she married King Henry I Capet in 1051.

The short version of why this is a problem: Russia traces its Orthodox, tsarist roots back to Kievan Rus — which is located in what is today Ukraine. That’s a problem for Ukraine when it means that the Kremlin downplays or doesn’t acknowledge its historical origins are in Ukraine, or insists Ukrainian history is actually Russian imperial history — by, for example, saying that the woman they whom remember as Anna of Kiev, is actually Anna of Russia.

And how else would a diplomatic dustup like that play out? On Twitter, of course.

This isn’t the first time a symbol of the past has become a point of present contention for Russia and Ukraine. In 2011, Russia published a map charting the places of origin of beloved fairy tale characters — including Kolobok, a pastry who rolls through the forests and tries to avoid befalling the fate that one would imagine most buns in the wild meet. The map also laid Russian claim to Ilya Muromets, a folk hero, and Kurochka Ryaba, a hen who lays golden eggs.

All of which would have been magically delightful, except that Ukraine claims Kolobok, Ilya Muromets, and Kurochka Ryaba as its own.

That Russia and Ukraine fought over who created the Slavic gingerbread man and are now exchanging tweets over a princess from a thousand years ago sounds silly — until one remembers that they’re involved in a very real war involving national sovereignty and Russia’s ultimate relationship to Ukraine, a war that has killed over 10,000 people so far.

Photo credit: Mark Schiefelbein-Pool/Getty Images

Emily Tamkin is a global affairs journalist and the author of The Influence of Soros and Bad Jews. Twitter: @emilyctamkin

More from Foreign Policy

An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.
An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.

A New Multilateralism

How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.

The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy

Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

The End of America’s Middle East

The region’s four major countries have all forfeited Washington’s trust.