The long table

Since before the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has often been shown at an almost comically long table during meetings with others. Original speculation about the length of the table pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has since become a symbol of Putin’s paranoia. There are a few different original images that employ the long table, but the most frequent source image is from a meeting between Putin and French President Emmanual Macron. Jokes in this meme template often either elongate the table to absurd dimensions or connect the table to the collapse of the Kerch Bridge, which connected occupied Crimea to the Russian mainland.