Is WW3 possible? Twitter gripped by fear amid Ukraine invasion

World stunned by Moscow's military operation in Ukraine

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  Firefighters arrive at a military building in Kiev that was damaged in an explosion. EPA

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  A man looks at the debris of an unidentified object in the aftermath of an explosion in Kiev. EPA

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  Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv. AFP

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  People take shelter in a Kiev subway station, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised a military operation in eastern Ukraine. Reuters

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  A Kiev underground train station provides some shelter. Reuters

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  Clear airspace over Ukraine, shortly after the attack began, as shown on the Flightradar24 website. AP

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  Kiev residents leave the city following pre-offensive missile strikes by the Russian armed forces and Belarus. Getty

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  Russian President Vladimir Putin justified the attack in a televised address, saying it was to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine. AP

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  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the nation in Kiev. He has declared martial law, saying Russia has targeted Ukraine's military infrastructure. AP

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  Firefighters extinguish a blaze at a house in Muratovo, in Ukraine's Luhansk enclave. AFP

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  The house is said to have been hit during shelling by Russian-backed separatists. AFP

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  The coffin of Capt Anton Sidorov is carried by members of the honour guard during a ceremony held at the Ministry of Defence in Kiev, Ukraine. Getty

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  A picture memorial for those killed in the confrontation between Ukraine's military and pro-Russia separatist forces, in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine. AP

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  UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Russia's Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, attend a Security Council meeting in New York to discuss the crisis in Ukraine. Reuters

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  Ukraine's UN ambassador Sergey Kyslytsya speaks during an emergency meeting of the Security Council. AP

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  US Army soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division head towards an air base near Arlamow, Poland. Reuters

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  An employee works at the gun counter of a tactical equipment shop in Kiev, Ukraine. Getty

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  A Ukrainian soldier speaks on a walkie-talkie at his position at the line of separation between Ukraine-held territory and rebel-held territory near Svitlodarsk, eastern Ukraine. AP

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  A man removes his belongings from his house after it was struck by artillery shells in Novoluhanske, eastern Ukraine. AP

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  A damaged house in Vibrovka village. EPA

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  A man shows a poster in support of Ukraine as he protests against the escalation of the tension between Russia and Ukraine, in Berlin. AP

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  Soldiers carry the coffin of Capt Anton Sydorov, 35, after he was killed in eastern Ukraine. AP

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  Workers look into a destroyed house after shelling near the city of Novoluhanske in Donetsk. Reuters

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  Destroyed buildings in Krasnogorivka, Ukraine. AFP

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  Smoke rises from a power plant after shelling outside the town of Schastia, a day after Moscow recognised two Ukrainian separatist republics and ordered the Russian Army to send in troops as ‘peacekeepers’. AFP

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  A Ukrainian Army soldier trudges through the wintry streets of Schastia on patrol. AFP

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  Three women run for cover during shelling in Schastia, eastern Ukraine. AFP

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  Russian tanks and armoured vehicles on the road in Rostov. EPA

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  A woman shares food with dogs in Stanytsia Luhanska, a crossing point between Ukrainian government-controlled areas and pro-Russian separatists' territory. AP

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  People wave Russian flags in Donetsk, the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants, in eastern Ukraine. AP

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  A tank drives along a street in the city of Donetsk. Reuters

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  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the nation on TV and says 'we are not afraid' after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Donetsk and Luhansk, two Moscow-backed rebel regions of Ukraine. AFP

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  A military truck in Donetsk after Mr Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to the city. Reuters

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  Russian state television showed Mr Putin signing a decree recognising the independence of the two Ukrainian breakaway regions. Reuters

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  US President Joe Biden signs an executive order at the White House to prohibit trade and investment between US individuals and the two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine. Reuters

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  Mr Putin signs documents, including the decree recognising two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. Reuters

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  Ukraine ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, addresses an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation between Ukraine and Russia in New York. EPA

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Russia's military operation in Ukraine has left the world stunned and prompted outrage across social media, where users are comparing the situation to the outbreak of World War Three, using memes that express fear — but also some levity that one would expect with Twitter.

Videos uploaded to social media showed missiles blazing across the skies of Ukraine and plumes of smoke rising from towns and villages — prompting a wave of anxiety ― as well as the inevitable dark humour many now expect from the site.

Memes were used by many users in what appears to have become a coping mechanism, as many fear that World War Three could be on the horizon.

In a humorous reaction, a US military parody account appealed to armchair warriors everywhere. “Checking people's Call of Duty stats to see who to draft for WW3,” it said, a light-hearted reference to the US military's past use of computer games as potential battlefield simulations.

Kat Tenbarge, a user on Twitter, said that although people are resorting to humour to defuse anxiety, millions of people's lives are at stake due to Moscow's military operation.

“Humour can be a coping mechanism in times of tragedy but don't forget there are people's families dying right now when you make that WWIII meme,” she said.

Defying escalating trade sanctions from the US, Canada, the European Union and other countries, including Japan and Australia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukrainian forces must surrender their weapons or bear the consequences.

How possible is World War Three?

Are Twitter users' fears of World War Three unfounded?

Tension is certainly higher in eastern Europe than at any point during the Cold War, when the US and Nato allies were in a nuclear stand-off with Communist Russia, that at one point saw a combined global arsenal of 60,000 nuclear weapons — enough to destroy the world several times over.

The US has sent several thousand troops to Poland and agreed to sell 250 M1A1 tanks — it’s most potent armoured vehicle ― to the Poles, boosting Washington’s ally on Ukraine’s western border.

Fears of a full-scale war have returned despite a number of nuclear treaties between the US and Russia that have limited nuclear weapon arsenals to about 1,500 apiece — still enough to kill billions of people.

After a flurry of arms transfers to Ukraine by Nato, Mr Putin has upped his warnings to the West, words taken by some to imply the possible use of nuclear weapons.

"To anyone who would consider interfering from the outside: if you do, you will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history. All relevant decisions have been taken. I hope you hear me,” he said on Thursday.

Likewise, in 2014 Vladimir Putin said he was ready to put Russia’s nuclear weapons on maximum alert during his country's annexation of Crimea, the peninsula in southern Ukraine, remarks made in a state TV documentary.

But despite these warnings, the risk that the conflict could escalate into a Nato-Russia confrontation is slim — in part because the nuclear weapons in Nato countries and Russia could give everyone reason for pause before any escalation, beyond the fighting within Ukraine.

That, at least, was the logic behind the tense Cold War “peace” — any escalation could lead to nuclear conflict and “mutually assured destruction”.