Move over, “Elf on a Shelf.” It’s time for a Bushmaster in the brush. Ukraine’s new advent calendar aims to impress this holiday season.
Most people are at least familiar with the traditional advent calendar. Basic models are made of paper, while others are bigger, more elaborate, and made of plastic or wood.
Behind each door a surprise of some sort. Maybe a poem, or a piece of candy. Perhaps a toy. But now, as Monty Python would say, it’s time for something completely different.
This holiday season the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense is taking the advent calendar to the battlefield — and social media. That’s right, counting down each day to Christmas by touting one of their many means of national defense on sites like Reddit or Instagram.
Like a traditional advent calendar, this all began on Dec. 1, with a post about the “Weapons of Victory,” featuring the M142 HIMARS, an American-made mobile artillery rocket system.
After starting with a bang, each successive day in the calendar was followed by other weapons systems from all over the world, a sort of countdown to Christmas and a thank you to the many different countries that gave military hardware to the cause.
Dec. 2 featured the AHS Krab. Designed in Poland, the Krab is a NATO compatible, self-propelled Howitzer. Following that was the British Challenger Two, a main battle tank.
Each post contains a brief description of that day’s vehicle or weapon system, along with a word of gratitude.
“We thank our partners from @DeptofDefense,” the ministry posted on Dec. 8. “We are especially grateful for M2 Bradley IFVs. M2 Bradley serve as both an armored personnel carrier and a tank-killer. Its 25 mm autocannon effectively destroy the enemy and helps our soldiers liberate Ukrainian land.”
While there’s been no official word from the Defense Ministry on the motivation behind these posts, it’s probably not a coincidence they come at a time when American funding for the Ukrainians defense is running out.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was just in Washington to ask Congress to come together and approve a new round of funding for the war effort.