On October 12, Vadym Voroshilov’s fighter jet was hit by a kamikaze drone during an air raid alert. The plane caught fire and he decided to eject himself from the plane.
While sailing towards the ground, he took a picture of himself to send to his colleagues to show that he survived. The picture was widely circulated on social media and Vadym Voroshilov has been declared a hero by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
– There is a need to lift up this type of figures as heroes. It alludes to people’s feelings, that the ordinary person can become a hero figure, says Mats Bergman, assistant professor of communication at the Swedish Social and Municipal College at the University of Helsinki.
Symbolism spreads on the internet
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, several images and clips have been widely circulated on social media. One example is the movement around the letter “Z”, which received a lot of attention earlier this year. In a short time, the letter became a symbol of the Russian extreme right and part of the Russian information war and propaganda.
Mats Bergman sees a tendency where viral phenomena are more frequently used in official information warfare.
– We have seen many cases where symbolism is first spread on social media before it reaches the official information warfare. They take note of this and highlight these cases or symbols, says Mats Bergman.
Can the image of the bloody pilot be seen as propaganda? Hear the communication professor tell in the clip above.