Russian armchair warriors (divannye voiska, диванные войска, couch/sofa troops) is a humorous and pejorative term that refers to fighting from the comfort of one’s living room. It describes activities such as speaking out in support of a war, battle, or fight by someone with little or no military experience.” Urban Dictionary describes the armchair warriors, as “those who ferociously post insane arguments from their armchairs.”
There is no direct link between the official trolls hired by the Government (web brigades, used to promote pro-Russian propaganda in political blogs and Internet forums) and Russian armchair warriors. The weaponry and equipment the Armchair Warriors use is mostly associated with the Vatniks (Vata). Most of them are doing propaganda for free, in disorganized order, on their own terms and because of their patriotic beliefs.
Allegedly, the first “battles” of Russian Armchair Warriors had started, were in February of 2014, during the civil unrest in Ukraine, which led to Crimea annexation and war in Donetsk. Since then, reportedly, Russia’s arm chair warriors started their fight on the Internet and provoked a series of humorous memes.
Recently, Yekaterinburg furniture store decided to join the battle and equip the warriors with proper armor. The store has started monetizing on the meme and started selling “Armata” couch designed for Armchair Warriors.
But you probably have nothing to worry about. As the Guardian notes, neither Russian trolls, nor armchair warriors can cause much damage to the Westerners. “So far, Russian trolls are not very effective in the west. True, they can disrupt the debate, but they cannot win over an argument and in many cases they do not try to, after all, they are only trolls.”
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