--- title: "‘Wolverines’ graffiti straight out of ‘Red Dawn’ showing up all over battlefields in Ukraine" description: "Tagging knocked out tanks and armored vehicles with the slogan seems to be the latest meme of the Ukraine invasion." date: "2022-04-16" modified: "2022-04-16" authors: - name: "Max Hauptman" job_title: "Breaking News Reporter" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/max-hauptman/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/red-dawn-wolverines-russian-vehicles-ukraine/" categories: - "Around the World" - "Europe" - "News" - "Russia" - "Tanks" - "Tech & Tactics" - "Ukraine" - "Vehicles" --- # ‘Wolverines’ graffiti straight out of ‘Red Dawn’ showing up all over battlefields in Ukraine ![]() *Photos and screenshots showing various Russian military vehicles that were tagged with "Wolverines" in Ukraine, in an apparent reference to the 1980s Cold War action movie "Red Dawn." (Screenshots via Twitter)* The message seems to be spreading. A photo posted to Twitter on Friday morning by journalist Nolan Peterson [showed]() a burned-out Russian T-72 tank on a roadside supposedly near western Kyiv. Along the barrel, scrawled in white spray paint, was the word “Wolverines,” another seeming homage to the 1984 Cold War-era movie “Red Dawn. https://twitter.com/nolanwpeterson/status/1514949069910777857 Other videos showed civilians walking around the same tank, along with other charred wreckage. https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1514757095010312197 Last week, [a photo surfaced on Twitter showing a disabled Russian BMP-2]() infantry fighting vehicle marked with the “Wolverines” tag. And now, much like the insurgency carried out by Patrick Swayze, Thomas Howell, and a collection of high school students from the town of Calumet, Colorado against a fictional Soviet invasion of the United States, the Wolverines tag is showing up more and more. There is what looks like a burned-out [BTR-80]() armored personnel carrier, supposedly destroyed near Brovary, a suburb of Kyiv. https://twitter.com/CrimsonMaverick/status/1514535797898231808 And then there is this photo of another [destroyed T-72]() with “Wolverines” painted in white on the side of the turret which, in this case, had not [blown off](). https://twitter.com/UkraineWarPosts/status/1512473887740772366 And from Thursday, the wreckage of another BTR-82 seen by a French journalist in [Nova Basan](), again with “Wolverines” spray-painted across the front of the armored personnel carrier. https://twitter.com/guillaume_ptak/status/1514535641295560706 As we saw in the original movie — and we won’t be talking about the critically panned 2012 remake — the occupation of Colorado ends in disaster for the Soviet and Cuban occupiers. Taking their name from their old high school football team, the teenaged insurgents, among them Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson and Jennifer Grey, are soon waging a guerilla campaign, leaving behind the “Wolverines” tag whenever they strike. The invasion of Ukraine has seen an impressive proliferation of [information warfare](). There have been the [memes](). There have been tales of bravery that have ranged from muddled to almost certainly apocryphal, such as the “[Ghost of Kyiv]().” How a 1980s movie reference made its way to the battlefields of Ukraine is unclear. But it certainly seems as if there will be plenty of more tanks and armored vehicles bearing the tag: “Wolverines.” ## What’s new on Task & Purpose - **‘Red Dawn’ hits Ukraine after destroyed Russian armor** [**gets tagged with ‘Wolverines’**]() - [**Marine Corps fires commander and sergeant major**]() **of Hawaii infantry battalion** - **Inside the Air Force’s secret mission to lift half a ton of** [**enriched uranium out of Kazakhstan**]() - [**Airmen are pissed**]() **that an entire C-17 crew except for the maintainer received a Distinguished Flying Cross** - **This Army sniper team** [**just outshot 29 other elite teams**]() **from around the globe** **Want to write for Task & Purpose?** [**Click here**]()**. Or check out the latest stories on** [**our homepage.**]() ## Author Max Hauptman is a former breaking news reporter at Task & Purpose. He previously worked at The Washington Post as a Military Veterans in Journalism Fellow, as well as covering local news in New England. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Instagram]()