# Ukrainian Reaper On February 25, 2022, hours into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Twitter account @WW3Updated posted the first claim that a lone Ukrainian sniper had killed around 20 Russian soldiers and earned the nickname 'the Ukrainian Reaper'[1]. Within a day, Reddit users on r/ukraine traced the attached photo to a Guardian op-ed published before any fighting began[2], and skepticism memes started replacing the earnest hero posts on Twitter[8]. ## Origin Ukrainian Reaper surfaced on February 25, 2022, the day after Russia began its full-scale invasion. Twitter account @WW3Updated posted a photo of a Ukrainian soldier with the face blurred and wrote that early reports credited the man with killing roughly 20 Russian soldiers alone, picking up the nickname in Ukrainian channels[1]. The tweet drew around 11,700 likes over its first week[4]. Later that day, Twitter user @askeros1 named the figure as Volodymyr Vist, said to be a sniper in the Ukrainian military[5]. No independent reporting backed the body count or the identity. On February 26, a repost on r/ukraine was answered by a commenter who matched the censored photo to a Guardian commentary piece dated February 22[2][3]. - **Platform:** Twitter (origin) / Reddit (debunk and spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2022 ## Overview Posts about the Ukrainian Reaper split between earnest hero worship and open mockery inside the same 48-hour window. Earnest versions reposted the censored soldier photo with lines about an unnamed sniper picking off 20 Russians[1], and some tied him to the name 'Volodymyr Vist' floated on Twitter without any confirming news coverage[5]. Comedic takes ran in two directions. Users drew the Reaper as a cartoon figure with a scythe or a long sword, lampooning the one-man-army idea[7], while others attached a U.S. Army recruiter stock image to skeptical quote-tweets after the photo's source came into question[8]. On Twitter, users bundled the Reaper with the Ghost of Kyiv and the Snake Island defenders into a single early-war folklore thread[6]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Ukrainian Reaper? An unverified February 2022 story about a Ukrainian sniper credited with killing around 20 Russian soldiers in the opening days of the invasion[1]. The attached photo was later matched to a Guardian op-ed published before fighting began[3]. ### Where did Ukrainian Reaper come from? Twitter account @WW3Updated posted the first 'Ukrainian Reaper' claim on February 25, 2022, drawing around 11,700 likes in its first week[4]. ### What does Ukrainian Reaper mean? It is a nickname for a rumored Ukrainian sniper, said in a Twitter reply by @askeros1 to be named Volodymyr Vist[5], though no outside reporting confirmed the body count or the identity[2]. ### How do you use Ukrainian Reaper? People used it in two ways: earnest hero posts grouping the Reaper with the Ghost of Kyiv and Snake Island defenders[6], and skeptical memes mocking the credulity of the original claim[8]. ### Is Ukrainian Reaper still popular? Not really. The story was a short-lived first-week-of-the-invasion meme that quieted after Reddit users debunked the photo on February 26, 2022[2]. ## References 1. [https://twitter.com/WW3updated/status/1497346570853007361]() 2. [https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/t1v77t/ukrainian_soldier_nicknamed_as_ukrainian_reaper/]() 3. [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/22/the-guardian-view-on-ukraine-the-shadow-of-war-looms-larger]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ukrainian-reaper]() 5. [https://twitter.com/askeros1/status/1497419633980317702]() 6. [https://twitter.com/i_am_dunwifit/status/1497363053851070467]() 7. [https://twitter.com/AynCath/status/1497671602972110852]() 8. [https://twitter.com/drugsarebadbruh/status/1497573776199987205]() 9. [https://twitter.com/chaxzaoufc/status/1497367143578587140]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/ukrainian-reaper Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library