Who Is St Javelin? Why Is She the Face of Ukrainian Resistance?

The picture of Mary Magdalene holding a missile has become a fast-spreading symbol of the Ukrainian resistance.

The picture of Mary Magdalene holding a missile has become a fast-rising symbol of the Ukrainian resistance. 

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@DemInRedOK)

Standing tall in a sea of images that have now come to represent the Ukrainian resistance, is a rapidly spreading picture of Mary Magdalene.

Except, the follower of Jesus appears in the image with a rather strange object in her hand – an anti-tank missile launcher named Javelin.

It is an iconography that has earned her the social-media title of 'St Javelin.'

Running around her countenance is a halo – blue and sometimes even red, as opposed to the shimmering gold – marked with the golden trident coat-of-arms of Ukraine.

The weapon in question is a FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile that is fitted with a high-explosive anti-tank warhead and has a range of 2,000 metres.

A portable device that often rests on either shoulders of soldiers firing them, the missile comes with two components – a command launch unit that can be reused and a missile that is sealed on a disposable launch tube assembly.

The command launch unit is used to sight the target.

The biggest factor behind the missile's operation is the fire-and-forget technology that allows the person triggering the missile to escape to run for cover the moment it is fired.

Whatever the reasons for the iconography may be, it is being shared widely on social media.

While no such saint by the name of Javelin exists in the Christian world, many pointed out how the figure in the picture had become the patron-protector of Ukraine.