In this article, I reflect on several instances of symbolic communication that has been taking place in the shadow of the ongoing Russian war on Ukraine. The article should be read as some afterthoughts from a research project that was completed just before the Russian full-scale invasion. It builds mainly on material from intermittent fieldwork among PR consultants and government officials in Ukraine, with particular interest in meaning management. The theme that conjoins rather scattered examples is a concern with the colonial legacy in a country at war.