A virtual army of impish cartoon pooches is waging war on Russia

“We usually express gratitude to our international partners for the security assistance,” tweeted Ukraine’s ministry of defence on August 28th. “But today we want to give a shout-out to a unique entity—North Atlantic Fellas Organisation #nafo.” Below the message was a picture of a dog, clad in Ukrainian army uniform, and looking serene as rockets from a himars launcher streaked into the sky behind him. “Thanks for your fierce fight against kremlin’s propaganda &trolls.” the tweet went on. “We salute you, fellas!”

The North Atlantic Fella Organisation (spellings vary) is a tongue-in-cheek label adopted by a virtual army that champions Ukraine’s cause and harangues its foes on social media. Its members don the avatar of a cartoon shiba inu dog—a breed borrowed from an older meme of 2013. They post caustic, typically humorous, memes mocking Russia’s military performance and the outlandish claims of its officials and propagandists.