Ukrainian Reaper

About

The Ukrainian Reaper refers to a rumored Ukrainian soldier who, during the first days of battle in the 2021-2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict, had reportedly killed up to 20 Russian soldiers on his own, earning himself the nickname. The story is similar to the Ghost of Kyiv and is similarly based on conjecture with little evidence beyond posts discussing the character. Memes about the Ukrainian Reaper are also related to the Battle of Snake Island, all of which occurred in February 2022.

Origin

On February 25th, 2022, the Twitter^[1] account WW3Updated posted a tweet that included a picture of a Ukrainian soldier with his face censored, detailing in the caption that reports were coming in from Ukraine that a soldier purportedly had killed over 20 Russian soldiers on his own, subsequently receiving the nickname, the "Ukrainian Reaper." The tweet (shown below) received roughly 11,700 likes over the course of one week. In a reply to a separate tweet, Twitter^[2] user askeros1 revealed that the Ukrainian Reapers real name was Volodymyr Vist, a sniper for the Ukrainian military.

Spread

On February 25th, 2022, Twitter^[3] user i_am_dunwifit related the Ukrainian Reaper to both the Ghost of Kyiv and the Battle of Snake Island in a tweet that earned roughly 1,000 likes in one week (shown below, left). Twitter^[4] user chaxzaoufc also tweeted about the Ukrainian Reaper in conversation with the other hero stories, earning over 200 likes in the same amount of time (shown below, right).

Memes were posted that referenced the Ukrainian Reaper in the week that followed the story's announcement. For instance, on February 26th, 2022, Twitter^[5] user AynCath humorously imagined what the Reaper looked like, captioning a photo of a man with a long sword and earning 15 likes for the tweet over one week (shown below, left). Internet users also started to become skeptical of the story, creating memes based off this skepticism. As an example, Twitter^[6] user drugsarebadbruh quote-retweeted a skeptical tweet on the 26th with a photo of a U.S. Army recruiter on a computer, earning 15 likes in one week (shown below, right).

Additionally, the story was shared on Reddit's /r/ukraine^[7] on the 26th, earning over 900 upvotes in six days. However, within the comments of the Reddit post, one user debunked the photo that was provided, linking users to an article from The Guardian^[8] that was posted on February 22nd that the image was ripped from.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References