What Air Defense Doing?

Submission 38,988

Part of a series on 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine. [View Related Entries]

About

What Air Defense Doing? is a catchphrase popularized by the North Atlantic Fellas Organization, also known as NAFO, used to mock the Russian military and Vladimir Putin while explosions were occurring in Crimea and elsewhere during August 2022, most likely from the Ukrainian air defense amid the Russian Invasion. The phrase was used on Twitter and in video memes, many referencing the S-400 missile system. Inherently, the phrase is a variation of What The Dog Doin'.

Origin

On August 9th, 2022, the Twitter^[1] account of Archer83Able tweeted photographs of smoke billowing from Russia's Saki Air Base in Novofedorivka, Crimea, reportedly attacked by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The tweet received roughly 2,500 likes in two weeks. Later on August 9th, Twitter user 200_zoka quote retweeted Archer83Able's tweet, captioning it, "What air defense doing?" (shown below). The tweet was deleted roughly a day later, however, on August 10th, 2022, Twitter^[2] user scootntoot posted a screenshot of it, showing that it had received over 350 likes in a day.

Spread

Soon after 200_zoka's tweet, others within the NAFO sphere of influence latched onto the catchphrase, reiterating it in their own tweets. For instance, on August 9th, 2022, Twitter^[3] user iAmTheWarax tweeted, "WHAT AIR DEFENSE DOING" multiple times in a tweet that earned roughly 2,100 likes in two weeks (shown below, left). On August 10th, 2022, Twitter^[4] user DarthPutinKGB tweeted, "The supreme art of war is to able to answer question 'what air defense doing?' I remain a master strategist," earning roughly 6,800 likes in two weeks (shown below, right).

On August 14th, 2022, the Twitter^[9] account of Saint Javelin tweeted a "WHAT AIR DEFENCE DOING" video, earning roughly 2,200 likes and 86,700 views in 12 days (shown below, top). On August 18th, 2022, Twitter^[5] user MBlech tweeted a video that inserted Confused Travolta into a video of smoke billowing from an explosion on a Crimean beach. In one week, the video received roughly 1,100 likes and 36,800 views (shown below).

"What Air Defence Doing?" #NAFO #NAFOexpansion #WeAreNAFO pic.twitter.com/s9o7lfY1KC

— Ramba Zamba (@MBlech) August 18, 2022

Later on August 18th, 2022, U.S. House Rep. Adam Kinzinger posted a quote retweet^[6] that captioned information regarding explosions in Belgorod and Crimea with, "WHAT AIR DEFENSE DOING." In one week, Kinzinger's QT received over 520 likes (shown below) and was also reported on by Newsweek.^[7]

Following Kinzinger's QT, which also aligned with an increased number of explosions happening in Crimea amid vacationing Russians on the beach, "What Air Defense Doing?" was referenced en masse within memes on Twitter. For instance, on August 21st, 2022, Twitter^[8] user giantcat9 captioned a video of a cat meowing into a microphone with, "WHAT AIR DEFENSE DOING? / The Air Defense:" earning roughly 6,800 likes and 186,100 views in five days (shown below).