The Doomsday Orgy Wasn’t Really About Sex
How Humor Transforms Helplessness into Defiance (Vol. 6; Issue 30)
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainians understandably became worried that Putin might use tactical nuclear weapons against them. A Ukrainian social media influencer began proposing an “end-of-the-world orgy” shortly after the invasion. He jokingly suggested that, if Russia were to launch a nuclear weapon, then Ukrainians, and anyone else interested, should gather on Mount Shchekavytsia in Kyiv for a “final celebration of life.” The idea spread rapidly across social media and international news outlets.
As the posts racked up hundreds of thousands of views, the joke persisted. Organizers proposed a system of numbered markings on participants’ hands to indicate sexual interests. That way, people with compatible preferences could find one another. Through these detailed, tongue-in-cheek “instructions,” participants were encouraged to gather on Mount Shchekavytsia in Kyiv rather than taking shelter in the event of a nuclear attack. The invitation extended to anyone with an “unfulfilled sexual fantasy.”
Brands, musicians, restaurants, supermarkets, politicians, and prospective participants joined in, producing an increasingly absurd mixture of dark humor, wartime commentary, everyday banter, and memes. Whether or not anyone ever intended to carry it out, the story emphasized something profound about how humor reveals unconscious themes. Freud1 believed that under extreme stress, people create intensely symbolic imagery. Dark humor, ritual, and fantasy can function as adaptive attempts to transform helplessness into agency. That last phrase is key:
Converting powerlessness into autonomy.
Freud, who introduced psychoanalysis as a discipline and a form of psychotherapy in 1897, found that jokes, much like dreams, reveal unconscious trends. They allow forbidden thoughts, wishes, and anxieties to bypass normal inhibitions. Humor becomes a psychological shortcut, releasing tension while conserving psychic energy that would otherwise be spent suppressing painful emotions.
Applied to Ukraine, the Mount Shchekavytsia orgy story can be understood as a collective joke that transformed unbearable anxiety into a fantasy of shared psychological mastery. Rather than surrendering to terror, people used humor to reclaim a sense of agency.
Freud later elevated his view of humor to the status of a mature defense mechanism. Humor does not deny suffering. Instead, it refuses to let it have the final word. It explains why mature people sometimes laugh in the face of death, not to deny reality, but to refuse to surrender their dignity to it. Faced with the unimaginable possibility of nuclear annihilation, Ukrainians did not simply panic. They created an absurd fantasy that essentially declared:
You may control our bodies, but you will not control our spirit.
Freud2 writes that humor offers:
kindly words of comfort to the intimidated ego.
And he concludes by describing humor as:
rare and precious gift.
In summary, the rapid popularity of the Ukrainian orgy post reveals three distinct themes, all of which empower people through fantasy:
The use of gallows humor: People living under the threat of annihilation can use humor to reduce terror.
The management of fear: Reminders of mortality can lead people either toward rigid defenses or toward an intensified embrace of life. The fantasy of a final celebration symbolized the latter, as in, “If death is unavoidable, we will choose how we meet it.”
The creation of defiance and agency instead of submission: Rather than depicting passive victims awaiting catastrophe, the orgy memes revealed a refusal to surrender psychological autonomy. Even in fantasy, people were reclaiming choice from overwhelming external forces.
When people believe they stand at the edge of annihilation, they rarely respond with simple fear. The unconscious searches for constraining symbols, taking the form of religion, patriotism, or heroism. Sometimes it creates outrageous humor. In every case, these responses remind us that the human psyche struggles not merely to survive, but to preserve dignity and meaning even when confronting the unimaginable.
Some of my previous essays have addressed denial in the face of global disasters such as climate change and the threat of nuclear annihilation. The latter is particularly disturbing. Climate change will gradually threaten human civilization. Meanwhile, nine countries possess roughly 12,000 nuclear warheads, thousands of which are maintained in military stockpiles. At least three or four more countries may be secretly developing these weapons. A small nuclear exchange, such as one by Russia against Ukraine, could have devastating global consequences.
History offers many disturbing examples of new weapons eventually finding their way onto the battlefield. It seems a sheer miracle that nuclear weapons have not been used for nearly 80 years. However wonderful humor might be as a coping mechanism, it should never be used to lessen our awareness of this threat. Awareness can lead to action, which, in turn, can lead to political change.
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References
Freud, S. (1905). Jokes and their relation to the unconscious. Standard Edition, 8:1–236.
Freud, S. (1927). Humor. Standard Edition. 21: 159–166.