Amid all the gloom, a sliver of light has emerged from the rubble of Ukraine. As Sun-Tzu said: ‘In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity’ – and some have certainly taken the opportunity to heap ridicule on themselves. Steerpike has cast his eye over the most ridiculous, self-involved and outlandish takes on Russia’s invasion as celebrities and politicians trip over themselves to proclaim their thoughts to the world.
Harry and Meghan
No crisis would be complete without the right royal duo involving themselves. The pair released an online statement claiming that they ‘stand with the people of Ukraine’ – not literally of course, given that they live in an £11million mansion in Montecito, California, some 6,000 miles away from Kyiv. If that doesn’t stop Putin’s war machine, what will?
Annalynne McCord
The American television actress has found mainstream fame at last, after uploading a cringe-worthy video of herself reading a self-penned poem saying she wishes that she had been Putin’s mother so she could’ve hugged him to stop him turning into a warmonger. Freud would have had a field day with this one.
Tom Tugendhat and Chris Bryant
Most MPs have been keen to ratchet up sanctions on Vladimir Putin and his cronies. But Tugendhat and Bryant went somewhat further after suggesting that every Russian person in the UK should lose their citizenship. In Parliament, the former suggested ‘we can expel Russian citizens, all of them’ while Bryant was forced to delete a tweet which suggested measures including one which would ‘require UK/Russian dual nationals to choose between nationality.’ Mr S is no fan of Putin’s allies but suggesting that all the 70,000 Russians in Britain are Kremlin assets is just simply ludicrous.
Stop the War MPs
Jeremy Corbyn just can’t catch a break can he? Thumped in the election, kicked out of his party, even his efforts to equivocate on Ukraine have been in vain. He and 11 Labour MPs all signed a craven letter by the ironically-named Stop the War group. Now, in a humiliating climbdown, they have all removed their names after Keir Starmer’s team threatened to withdraw the whip from them.
Nigel Farage
The former Ukip leader might want to check who is cheering him on these days. The Brexiteer took to Twitter to blame Putin’s invasion on Ukraine, claiming it was ‘a consequence of EU and NATO expansion, which came to a head in 2014.’ How ironic to see him arguing against another country’s independence and right to self-determination.
Eurovision
UEFA might have taken the Champions League off Moscow but at least there’s one international competition which won’t be boycotting Russia. Less than 48 hours after the invasion began, Eurovision confirmed that the country can still compete in its annual contest after organisers described the competition as a ‘non-political cultural event.’
Mr S has spotted that Ukraine meanwhile is now second-favourite to win this year’s contest after bookies slashed the odds. While Kiev looks likely to get the sympathy vote, unfortunately the city probably won’t be hosting next year’s contest if it does win, as per custom.
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