Wartime Messaging Dominates Outdoor Ads in Western Ukraine

Billboards display messages saying “To fight is to live" and “Fight, you will win. God is helping you," in western Ukraine, in March 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

LVIV, Ukraine—A poster on a busy intersection in Lviv, the unofficial capital of Western Ukraine, depicts a decapitated two-headed eagle from Russia’s coat of arms holding the axes the creature had apparently used to perform the bloody act.

“Small military operation in Ukraine!' the poster reads, riffing on the phrase Russian President Vladimir Putin has used to describe Russia’s invasion.

A poster nearby shows a Russian bear standing on top of Ukraine, its leg chewed off by a honey badger. The badger, donning a vest marked with the acronym for the Ukrainian armed forces, is chewing through the bear’s arm.

“Those who come to us with a sword, on the sword will die,” the poster reads.

Wartime propaganda posters and billboards with messages similar to these can be seen throughout Western Ukraine, including inside and outside the cities of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Truskavets, and Ternopil.

A poster draws on the language Russian President Vladimir Putin has used to describe the war as a "special military operation." The poster depicts a two-headed eagle from Russia's coat of arms which holds the axes it used to decapitate itself. "Small military operation in Ukraine!' the poster reads in Lviv, Ukraine, on March 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

A poster depicts a Russian bear standing on top of the shape of Ukraine with one leg bitten off by a honey badger, which is now attacking the bear's arm. The badger wears a vest marked with the acronym for the Ukrainian armed forces. "Those who come to us with a sword, on the sword will die," the poster reads. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

While propaganda billboards and posters aren’t a new phenomenon in times of war, the ones in Ukraine feature clear signs of the modern age, including QR codes, sophisticated computer-assisted design, and ideas drawn from viral internet memes.

The Russian bear poster features a QR code that leads viewers to a website accepting donations for the Ukrainian armed forces. A billboard soliciting help from civilians includes a QR code that takes them to a website where people can report the locations of Russian forces.

A billboard soliciting help from civilians includes a QR code that leads to a website where visitors can report the locations of Russian forces, in western Ukraine, in March 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Many of the billboards feature the viral message, “Russian ship, go [expletive] yourself.”

The line is in reference to an internet meme based on the rebuke issued by a Ukrainian soldier stationed on Snake Island. The soldier, who livestreamed his interaction with the ship’s crew, declined an offer to surrender issued by the Russian sailors on the first day of Moscow’s invasion. The Russian warship fired on the Ukrainian soldiers, killing several.

A number of billboards borrow from this theme, substituting the ship for tanks and soldiers.

A billboard reads "Russian ship, go [expletive] yourself,” in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, on March 20, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

A billboard reads “Russian soldier, go [expletive] yourself,” in western Ukraine, on March 20, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Several Ukrainians who spoke to The Epoch Times expressed mild dismay at the use of expletives in the ads, a sight unseen in Ukraine before the war. Many Ukrainians believe that expletives are a crude Russian import. According to the governor of the Lviv region, such billboards would never have been approved by the public before the war, but things have changed because of Russia’s invasion. A spokesman for the mayor of Ternopil, a Ukrainian city east of Lviv, said anything anti-Russia goes.

A particularly graphic variation of the “Russian ship” theme shows a vessel stylized to look like the Kremlin sinking in a pool of blood.

The messaging, far from the front lines, appears to mainly target the locals in the western part of the country. It could also demoralize Russian forces, should they ever make it to that part of the country.

A grim message seen on several billboards and posters reads, “We are on our soil and you will be in it.”

A billboard that features a ship stylized to look like the Kremlin sinking in a pool of blood, in western Ukraine, in March 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

The spokesman for the governor of Lviv told The Epoch Times that the billboards and posters are part-volunteer, part-government effort. The mayor of Ternopil said companies that put up the posters have taxes waived for the related work.

The art for a series of billboards featuring literary figures from Ukraine’s past appears to have been made using photo editing software. The literary greats, long dead, appear dressed in modern military fatigues.

“To fight is to live,” one billboard reads, quoting Lesya Ukrainka, a prominent Ukrainian literary figure.

“Fight, you will win. God is helping you,” reads a billboard alongside it, quoting Taras Shevchenko, one of Ukraine’s most prominent poets.

Another ad features an excerpt from a poem by Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko stating, “Our courage—a sword drenched in blood.”

A billboard featuring an excerpt from a poem by Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko stating "Our courage—a sword drenched in blood,” in Ternopil, Ukraine, on March 19, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

A series of billboards in Lviv feature excerpts from the Ukrainian national anthem.

“Our enemies will perish like dew in the sun,” one billboard reads.

“We will not let anyone rule in our native land,” reads another.

The ads with messaging drawn from Ukraine’s cultural heritage are part of a broader nationalist theme seen in outdoor ads. The Ukrainian government accelerated a drive toward a unified national culture in the wake of the revolution in 2014 that ousted its pro-Russia president. The drive included an emphasis on using Ukrainian as the national language, a factor Putin has cited as one of the drivers of the hostilities between the two nations.

The fighters in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk autonomous regions, which are majority Russian-speaking, were initially motivated, in part, by the Ukrainian government’s campaign to make Ukrainian the only national language. In January, a new law went into effect in Ukraine requiring the use of the Ukrainian language in most public settings.

The vast majority of people in Ukraine can switch comfortably between Russian and Ukrainian. However, since the onset of the war, Ukrainian has been spoken as a point of pride.

“The Lviv region is free from Russian-speaking cultural products,” one roadside billboard reads.

A billboard reads "The Lviv region is free from Russian-speaking cultural products,” in western Ukraine, in March 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

The billboards promoting recruitment and financial support for Ukraine’s territorial defenses and the military appear to be from official sources, featuring corporate ad design and bland messaging.

“Join the ranks of the territorial defenses,” one billboard reads.

“Strong Together. Support territorial defenses,” reads another.

“To protect your fatherland professionally, join the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” a third billboard states.

“Learn to protect your home. Join the ranks of territorial defense,” reads a fourth.

Billboards near Ukraine’s border with Poland target men who may be fleeing the country instead of enlisting for the war.

“This is our land! Don’t retreat!” reads one billboard miles from the border with Poland.

“Don’t run away! Defend!” reads another.

Other billboards glorify and thank the armed forces and fallen soldiers.

“Heroes don’t die,” reads one billboard along a rural highway.

Above the message is a photo of a young soldier named Vitalii Sapylo, who, according to the billboard, died on Feb. 25, the second day of the war.

A roadside billboard states: "To protect your fatherland professionally, join the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," in western Ukraine, in March 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

A roadside billboard states: “Learn to protect your home. Join the ranks of territorial defense," in western Ukraine, in March 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

On some busy highway intersections, wartime ads appear alongside pre-war ads. In one cluster of billboards, ads for concrete delivery, a private clinic, a church, and a TV channel appear next to a billboard supporting the troops, which reads, “Guys, you are cosmic! Ukraine is with you!”

Some ads combine the war effort and commercial interests. A poster for an optics store in Lviv features wartime messaging and vows to contribute 20 percent of all revenue to the military.

Ads drawing on religious themes are among the most prevalent. Some billboards call on help from the divine. Others appeal to more universal facets of spirituality, including one that reads, “Our weapons: prayer, forbearance, love.”