Ukraine is a highly devout country – about 87% of its 41 million citizens practice Christianity. So it's notable that, to many Ukrainians, Mary Magdalene now has a new moniker: St. Javelin.
The viral meme (shown above) recasting the "Apostle of the apostles" is in reverence to a device that knows no religion: the FGM-148 Javelin portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missile. Since the start of Putin's dastardly invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian freedom fighters have extensively utilized the American-made weapon system – co-produced by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon – to rain destruction down upon the Russian military's armored vehicles. Ukraine's Defense Ministry estimates that 102 tanks and 536 armored vehicles had been destroyed as of February 26th. The Javelin likely factored heavily into that rousing combat success.
"This weapon allows a single soldier to target and destroy even the most heavily armored main battle tank with an almost guaranteed kill rate, at great range and with minimal risk," Army Capt. Vincent Delany wrote of the Javelin for West Point's Modern War Institute.
So how does this 'holy' piece of military machinery work?
