‘Most convincing evidence’: Russian embassy trolls NATO with toy tanks

Some of Russia’s diplomats have joined a digital diplomacy row as they trolled NATO by “leaking” on Twitter the alliance’s “most convincing evidence” of Russian troops’ alleged presence in Ukraine.

The Twitter account @RussEmbassyUAE, which is the official Twitter of the Russian Embassy in the United Arab Emirates, posted a picture of tiny toy trucks, tanks and armored vehicles all lined up on the ground, with the words: “#NATO's latest evidence of #Russian armor invading #Ukraine has been leaked! Seems to be the most convincing ever!”

#NATO's latest evidence of #Russian armor invading #Ukraine has been leaked! Seems to be the most convincing ever! pic.twitter.com/nMdXdILX6q

— Russian Embassy, UAE (@RusEmbassyUAE) September 3, 2014

Users on the social media network seem to have liked the “toy tweet” – the picture was retweeted over 1,000 times and nearly 500 people added it to their “favorites."

This is evidently a response to NATO’s release of satellite images described as a “proof” of Russia’s military involvement in Ukraine.

The images were ridiculed by Russia’s Defense Ministry, while an alliance of seven former US intelligence officers - the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) - said it was on a par with the“same dubious, politically ‘fixed’ kind used 12 years ago to ‘justify’ the US-led attack on Iraq.”

A digital “war” of maps and pictures first started on Twitter between Canada and Russia on August 27, when @Canada at NATO tweeted a map showing two bordering states – one part was labeled “Russia” while another, Ukraine, was labeled as “not Russia.”

Geography can be tough. Here’s a guide for Russian soldiers who keep getting lost & ‘accidentally’ entering #Ukrainepic.twitter.com/RF3H4IXGSp

— Canada at NATO (@CanadaNATO) August 27, 2014

Their Russian counterparts, @Russians at NATO, have hit back with their own map, where they clearly marked the disputed Crimea region as Russian territory.

Helping our Canadian colleagues to catch up with contemporary geography of #Europe@CanadaNATOpic.twitter.com/MjzRxpFFfN

— Russians at NATO (@natomission_ru) August 28, 2014

This recent trolling of NATO coincides with the military alliance’s meeting in Wales, where Russian troops’ alleged presence in Ukraine is one of the key topics.