Babushka with the Soviet flag

This meme shows an elderly woman who is holding a Soviet flag and believes she is greeting invading Russian troops. In fact, the troops were Ukrainian, and they stomped on her flag, after which she refused their food and proclaimed that her parents fought under the Soviet flag. Pro-Russian media have seized upon this scene as a sign of popular support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Memes of this type typically replace the elderly woman’s face with someone else’s, such as the face of pro-Russian journalist Anatolii Sharii.