Conflict change in Ukraine’s favour causes confusion in Knight cartoon

When invading Russian tanks and troops first crossed the Ukrainian border in February 2022, it was an escalation* of the Russo-Ukranian war that had been going on since 2014.

That’s when Russian-backed separatists* took eastern parts of Ukraine, like Crimea and the Donbas region, over Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union and NATO*.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin decided he needed to save Ukraine from so-called “Nazism*” and that Ukraine was basically Russian land.

So when a fully-fledged invasion or “military operation” was launched by land and air forces in 2022, it seemed only a matter of time before the small nation of Ukraine would fall to the might of Russia.

Ukraine’s leader was a former television comedian, a non-politician, newly elected to the presidency in 2019 and relatively “unknown” by western populations. It seemed Volodymyr Zelensky’s reign as Ukrainian President would come to an end. But Russia and indeed most of the world underestimated Zelensky. He refused to flee in the face of the attack and rallied his countrymen to defend their lands against the larger aggressor.

Wearing his customary khaki green T-shirt and army pants, he defied Putin’s annexation* and assassination attempts, and over the next two years inflicted embarrassing and heavy losses on the invading Russian forces. Then, as Russia seemed to be steadying, and started to win several strategic battles while Ukraine cried out for more military support from the West, Zelensky’s forces pushed into Russian territory and took the region of Kursk.

In a David and Goliath* battle, the Ukrainians were, unbelievably, taking Russian soil and causing Putin’s forces to retreat. Talk about the mouse that roared.

I decided to draw a cartoon about this incredible turnaround in the long-running war. I had always loved watching the military parades that were held on Victory Day* in Red Square, Moscow, when the old Soviet leaders would gather to watch tanks and humongous missiles on launchers parade past the Kremlin and St Basil’s orthodox cathedral. Thousands of Red Army soldiers would goosestep past in perfect unison, saluting their leaders in a display of Russia’s might and power. This still happens every May 9 today, with Vladimir Putin standing there proudly saluting his forces. I thought I could use these military parades in a cartoon about the success, or lack of, of Russian forces in the war in Ukraine.

I started to sketch Red Square, the large walls of the Kremlin* and in the background the ornate* St Basil’s cathedral, built by Ivan the Terrible* in 1561. Then I added in a line of tanks parading through the square as we see on Victory Day.

But something was not right. I drew Vladimir Putin and one of his generals standing in the square. No fool he, Putin quickly picks up on the curious situation of tanks parading through the streets of Moscow just as we see on Victory Day … but it is August.

“How could this be?” Putin asks in the cartoon.

The punchline delivers the answer to the Russian President: they are not Russian tanks at all but Ukrainian ones. The cartoon points out the success of Ukraine’s forces in taking Russian territory, by exaggerating that Zelensky’s forces have made it all the way to the Russian capital and are rumbling through the streets of Moscow.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• escalation: rapid increase, a steep rise or surge in something
• separatists: groups within a country who want to separate from the rest of the country and form their own government and borders
• NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the collective security system founded in 1949
• Nazism: far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany that resulted in World War II and the Holocaust
• annexation: occupation, seizure of a region or city during a conflict, a takeover
• David and Goliath: bible story of a boy defeating the giant Goliath in battle
• Victory Day: Russia marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany every May 9
• Kremlin: group of buildings in central Moscow, now the centre of government of Russia
• ornate: elaborate, detailed, decorated, heavily adorned
• Ivan the Terrible: grand prince of Moscow (1533–84), Ivan IV, Ivan Vasilyevich was the first Russian tsar (1530-1584)

EXTRA READING

Russia’s real-life spy kids

Saving hedgehogs and hamsters in a war zone

What is happening between Ukraine and Russia?

QUICK QUIZ

1. When did Putin start the war against Ukraine?
2. What was Ukraine President Zelensky’s former career?
3. Which parades has Mark always enjoyed?
4. Who built St Basil’s cathedral and in what year?
5. Which strategic region has Ukraine just taken?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Values, identities and actions
Study today’s Mark Knight cartoon and answer the following questions about the work:

• What values does this cartoon invite us to think about?
• Who is this cartoon speaking about? And who is this work trying to speak to?
• What actions might the viewpoint in the cartoon encourage?

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
How can cartoonists like Mark Knight encourage or change people’s opinions on a controversial subject or topic?

Do you think his work needs approval before going to print? Explain your answer.

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Stretch your sentence
Find a “who” or “what” in the cartoon – a person or thing. Write it down.

Add three adjectives to describe them better.

Now add a verb to your list. What are they doing?

Add an adverb about how they are doing the action.

Using all the words listed, create one descriptive sentence.