My feed this evening seemed to exist in two parallel worlds.
In the Ukrainian one, there were photos of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra engulfed in flames.
In the American one, there were cage fights on the White House grounds celebrating Donald Trump’s birthday and U.S. Flag Day.
Take a guess which event will make the front pages of American media tomorrow. Which videos will dominate social media feeds. What Americans will be talking about first and foremost, regardless of their political affiliation.
russia did not launch a massive ballistic missile attack on Kyiv by accident on this particular night. The Kremlin understood perfectly well that Washington would be preoccupied with celebrations and that media attention would be focused elsewhere. The spectacle on the White House lawn overshadowed even reports that the United States had reached a peace agreement with Iran, at least for one evening. On American Twitter, one of the most discussed moments right now is a fighter claiming live on stage that Michelle Obama is a man.
Ukrainians and friends of Ukraine are trying to break through the noise with photos and videos from Kyiv, but algorithms favor spectacle over tragedy.
Special thanks to the members of Congress, diplomats, religious leaders, and journalists who have shared these images and stories. Because of them, what happened in Kyiv still has a chance to appear in American feeds as well.
Author: Ostap Yarysh