St. Javelin / Saint Javelin character depicting Madonna Kalashnikov holding a javelin missile, a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

St. Javelin / Saint Javelin

Part of a series on 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine. [View Related Entries]

Updated Jul 16, 2022 at 09:16PM EDT by Video Gene.

Added Feb 27, 2022 at 08:12PM EST by Video Gene.

PROTIP: Press 'i' to view the image gallery, 'v' to view the video gallery, or 'r' to view a random entry.

This submission is currently being researched & evaluated!

You can help confirm this entry by contributing facts, media, and other evidence of notability and mutation.

About

St. Javelin or Saint Javelin refers to an image of Madonna Kalashnikov (the Blessed Virgin Mary) holding a javelin missile that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance during the 2021-2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict. Although the image is an exploited version of a 2012 painting, it was first re-edited and created in early 2018 on the Russian social media site VK where a user replaced the original AK-47 with a javelin missile. The image received an uptick in usage in February 2022 coinciding with the escalation of the conflict and invasion of Ukraine by Russia, effectively becoming a symbol of Ukrainian resistance on social media and resulting in lots of redraws and fan art. St. Javelin was also seen as controversial by some for promoting violence and the war at large.

Origin

The origin of St. Javelin comes from a painting by American artist Chris Shaw titled, "Madonna Kalashnikov."[1] It was made in 2012 and first exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in April 2013.[1] This original painting shows Madonna Kalashnikov holding an AK-47 (shown below, left). Chris Shaw's image was used throughout the 2010s online. For instance, on November 18th, 2016, it was used within a thread on 4chan's /cum/[2] messageboard.

On January 23rd, 2018, Shaw's painting was re-edited by an anonymous user within the pro-Ukraine VK group Величайшие творения и люди Украинской нации,[3] which translates in English to "The greatest creations and people of the Ukrainian nation." The post was captioned, "Творчество наших уважаемых подписчиков," which translates to, "Creativity of our dear subscribers." Over the course of four years, the post received 25 likes (shown below, right).


00 Величайшие творения и люди Украинской нации + Follow 23 Jan 2018 at 8:00 am Творчество наших уважаемых подписчиков.

Spread

On January 24th, 2018, the VK post was screenshotted and reposted to Twitter by user Maks_Chepay_4. Although the aforementioned Twitter user has since been suspended, his tweet received engagement and was reposted to other places like the Russian imageboard Fishki[4] later in 2018 (shown below, left).

On May 28th, 2018, the image was reposted by Twitter[5] user golub who captioned it, "Saint Javelin," earning 18 likes over four years (shown below, right). This tweet is the first known pairing of the image and nickname.


Макс ЧЕпайтм Читать @Maks Chepay_4 Величайшие творения и люди Украинской нации вчера в 8:00 Творчество наших уважаемых подписчиков. RA aka Fishki-net Mykhailo Golub @golub Saint Javelin 7:53 AM · May 23, 2018 · Twitter for iPhone

Symbol of Ukrainian Resistance in February 2022

Four years later in February 2022, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine reached peak escalation following Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering his troops to invade Ukraine's eastern front. Starting most notably on February 23rd, 2022, the St. Javelin image started resurfacing en masse on platforms like Reddit and Twitter. For instance, on the 23rd, Twitter[6] user NataliaAntonova posted a tweet that showed a picture of St. Javelin on a table, captioning it, "It’s not a party without St. Javelin #Ukraine," earning over 700 likes in six days (shown below, left). On February 24th, Redditor privatesoup1884 posted a St. Javelin image to /r/NonCredibleDefense,[7] earning roughly 1,900 upvotes over the course of five days (shown below, right).


Natalia Antonova @NataliaAntonova It's not a party without St. Javelin #Ukraine 9:52 AM · Feb 23, 2022 · Twitter for iPhone ST.JAVELIN THE PROTECTOR OF UKRAINE

On February 25th, 2022, St. Javelin was covered by news outlets like Vice[8] and Euro News.[9] Also in late February, a website was created called saintjavelin.com[10] that started selling merchandise with Saint Javelin. The website claimed to be a fundraising effort to support Ukrainian armed forces and the Ukrainian people, however, it is unknown if the money goes to these causes.

Rick Wilson's St. Javelin Tweet

Also on February 25th, 2022, Twitter[11] user TheRickWilson, also known as the Republican political pundit Frederick George "Rick" Wilson, tweeted the image of St. Javelin with the caption, "St. Raytheon of the Javelin, patron saint of slagging Russian armor," earning roughly 6,100 likes over the course of four days (shown below, left). Rick Wilson received lots of backlash on the platform for promoting the image, mostly through the form of quote retweets. For instance, Twitter[12] user TomKhruisehchev captioned his tweet, "This is like half a dozen mortal sins all in one," on February 27th, gaining roughly 2,000 likes in two days (shown below, right).


Rick Wilson @TheRickWilson St. Raytheon of the Javelin, patron saint of slagging Russian armor. 8:57 PM · Feb 25, 2022 · Twitter for iPhone O10

Various Examples


@0o.da.lolly Hail, Javelin, full of HEAT, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among AT rifleman, and blessed are the fruit of thy weapons squads. Holy Javelin, product of Raytheon Lockheed Martin, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of encountering infantry both mechanized and dismounted. Amen. УКАЇНИ GNABA E r/poland - Posted by u/RageMachinist 3 days ago Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of Poland offering a PZR Grom Manpad system to St. Javelin. Rick Wilson @TheRickWilson St. Raytheon of the Javelin, patron saint of slagging Russian armor. 8:57 PM · Feb 25, 2022 · Twitter for iPhone O10 IN K 3 R R

Search Interest

External References

[1] Chris Shaw – Madonna Kalashnikov

[2] 4chan – /cum/

[3] VK – St. Javelin

[4] Fishkin – St. Javelin

[5] Twitter – @golub

[6] Twitter – @NataliaAntonova

[7] Reddit – /r/NonCredibleDefense

[8] Vice – Who is St. Javelin?

[9] Euro News – St. Javelin

[10] saintjavelin – website

[11] Twitter – @TheRickWilson

[12] Twitter – @TomKhruisehchev

Recent Videos

There are no videos currently available.

Recent Images 35 total


Top Comments

Whitest Man in Argentina
Whitest Man in Argentina

So far we have:
>The Ghost of Kyiv
>Sunflower Grandma
>Snake Island
>Saint Javelin
only for the Ukrainians

And for the Russians I think we have only the Scooby-Doo van with the white Z on it. Tell me if I missed anything

+56

+ Add a Comment

Comments (27)


Display Comments

Add a Comment


Yo! You must login or signup first!