The tag has been spotted on multiple tanks in and around Kyiv
‘Wolverines’ is the word which has been spray-painted onto destroyed Russian tanks in Ukraine, and there is a rather interesting theory behind it.
Photos of the graffitied tanks have been circulating online in recent days, with some suggesting it is in reference to the 1984 anti-communist film Red Dawn.
The film, starring Patrick Swayze, tells the story of a group of teenagers who turn into guerrilla fighters and battle it out against a Soviet invasion of the United States.
The group call themselves ‘Wolverines’ in reference to their high school football team and leave graffiti tags whenever they strike Soviet forces who have invaded their hometown in Colorado. The film sees the Soviet army suffer huge losses, and they are eventually defeated.
Now, similar tags have been spotted in areas in and around Kyiv.
More “Wolverines!” graffiti showing up in Ukraine, you’ve gotta love it! pic.twitter.com/WK7dzxhiCS
— Andrew Nelson (@NinesNorth) April 17, 2022
While it cannot be said with certainty, the tags do appear to be a nod to the 1980’s cold-war movie. But, as Gzero Media reports, the Wolverines is the name of a real group of civilian fighters currently in action in Ukraine.
In the weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, the Wolverines reportedly held weekend training sessions in fields and forests outside Kyiv.
Daniel Bilak, the leader of one such group, told Gzero Media the group now carry out night patrols to keep order and capture presumed Russian saboteurs.
Speaking to the publications, he said: “It’s BYOG. That is: Bring Your Own Gun.”
Wolverines! — western Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/UurQf0Y6Mm
— Nolan Peterson (@nolanwpeterson) April 15, 2022
Over seven weeks since the war started, Ukrainians continue to fight against Russian forces.
Russian forces have demanded that defenders of the city of Mariupol should lay down their arms, but Ukrainian officials have rejected this, BBC reports.
Capturing the whole of the city is seen as a huge prize for Russia, as it would leave Putin in control of a huge amount of southern and eastern Ukraine.
But in an interview with the US network ABC, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the country’s forces still in the city would “fight to the end”.
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