Narratives clash in the war taking place on social media

In April 2022 a video was uploaded to YouTube in which an elderly woman greets Ukrainian soldiers waving the Soviet flag. One of the soldiers takes the flag from her and treads on it. The woman says in Russian: "My parents died for that flag, and now you're stepping on it." The video quickly went viral. The woman was turned into a symbol, "Babushka Z," who also appeared outside social media in drawings, murals and statues. She was used to justify Russian military action and support the Russian version of the legitimacy of the war.