The efforts not to mention the war, or even call it one, have left Russian media outgunned by a huge wave of posts by Ukrainians on social networks that they have struggled to counter.

When Russia captured the city of Melitopol on Saturday, it claimed locals had put up no resistance and the elderly had welcomed them by waving red flags. That account was immediately tested by a video on social media showing a man angrily berating troops to their face.

The reality of the conflict even appears to have surprised some of the invading forces themselves. In videos posted by Ukrainians, men said to be Russian soldiers are seen admitting they did not know where they had been sent, with some stuck on the roadside after their vehicles ran out of fuel.

“They live in Putin’s cartoons. They really believe that the population will greet them here and that the military will surrender,” said Kostyantyn Batozsky, a Ukrainian political analyst.