The ongoing enmity between Ukraine and Russia has moved into a deadly new phase: meme-based insults on Twitter.

A brief spat resulted in @Ukraine mocking Russia's official account — @Russia, which is run by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs — with a Simpsons GIF.

The salvo came as the two accounts argued over the origin of former 11th-century queen of France Anna Yaroslavna.

Queen Anne had been born in 1036 in Kievan Rus, federated territory surrounding the modern-day Ukrainian capital Kiev. She was the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, the Grand Prince of Kiev.

Kievan Rus — also spelled Kyivan Rus — covered territory now mostly divided between Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, so the stage was set for an international argument when Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to Queen Anne as "Russian Anne" during a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.

In 10 centuries a lot can happen in geopolitics, so Ukraine tweeted the fact that in 1051, when Queen Anne became queen consort of Henry 1 of France, Russia's present-day capital Moscow had not yet been built.

They illustrated this with a picture of Queen Anne, a short biography, and a photo of an uncleared forest captioned "Meanwhile, in Moscow…"

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Russia responded with a diplomatic overture, saying the three countries (including Belarus) shared a common history they should all be proud of.

Perhaps less diplomatically they included a photo of the Cathedral of St Sophia, which was built in Kievan Rus between 1045 and 1050 in the now Russian city of Veliky Novgorod.

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That was clearly too much for @Ukraine, who pulled out the Simpsons GIF to accuse Russia of being the Soviet Union in disguise.

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For meme connoisseurs, the replies to this epic burn are a rich minefield of animated appreciation.

Others joined in the argument, listing Ukrainian buildings that were complete when Moscow was a forest, or stating that Russia's "common history" was simply stolen from Ukraine.

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs joined in, saying Ukraine should not be jealous because in 1051 Kiev was capital of the united Russia.

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Calling the older territory "Russia" earned a GIF of Benedict Cumberbatch shaking his head in disappointment — with the comment that Kievan Rus also included parts of modern-day Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and Moldova.

"Don't give the 'triune nation' nonsense pls and comply with int law," @Ukraine wrote.

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Ukraine's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Pavlo Klimkin, responded to the online argument more seriously: "The problem with Russia is not about trying to <<expropriate>> the figure of French Queen Anne of Kyiv but truly believing her to be Russian."

Although it is not clear who runs @Ukraine, which claims to be the official account for the country, it has been verified by Twitter and is acknowledged and followed by several accounts of Ukrainian officials and government departments.