It started with a simple message to his parents. Russian forces were invading Ukraine and, in case something happened to him, Wang Jixian, a computer programmer based in Odessa, decided he had better record a few words addressed to his parents on his social media account. Following that, in a stream of short videos posted daily over the following weeks, Wang offered a personal on-the-ground record of what was going on around him. His version contradicted the messaging coming from Beijing; soon, Wang was being subjected to taunts, verbal assaults, and threats. On the afternoon of Thursday March 17, Odessa time, Wang realized that his WeChat accounts had been deleted. He posted the following message on YouTube in response.