Ukraine Army References ‘Game Of Thrones’ Book In Post About War Tank

The Ukrainian military made a social media post Wednesday that seemingly referenced the work of novelist George R. R. Martin, whose books were the basis of the “Game of Thrones” television series.

“A Song of Ice and Fire,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) tweeted alongside a video of a tank firing its cannon.

The phrase is the title of Martin’s ongoing series of fantasy novels that HBO adapted into a television drama spanning eight seasons.

Twitter users reacted to the post by making jokes that also used references from the novels and the show.

“Winter is coming… Russia, get out of Ukraine while you can,” one person replied to the MOD’s tweet.

The phrase “winter is coming” has become a euphemism warning of bad or dangerous future events.

“Ukraine remembers,” another person wrote, a variation of “the North remembers,” another popular saying used in the world of Martin’s novels.

On the same day it made the post, the MOD also quoted former President Abraham Lincoln in a Russian casualty report.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe,” the ministry said in a tweet that stated Russia has lost 85,410 military personnel since it invaded Ukraine in late February.

While the quote is attributed to Lincoln, there is no substantive evidence to prove that he made such a remark, according to Quote Investigator.

The earliest instance matching the general template of the saying appeared in 1956 in a volume about agricultural education, but it was ascribed to an anonymous woodsman, the website found.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense also quoted comedian Dave Chappelle in a previous casualty report.

“The Ukrainians are way better fighters than we thought they’d been. I mean, these guys. They killed 10,000 Russians the first week of the war… This was before we were sending them weapons,” the post read.

The comments were part of Chappelle’s 15-minute opening monologue on the Nov. 12 episode of “Saturday Night Live,” which touched on the war in Ukraine.

In another post from September, the MOD likened the Ukrainian army to the video game character Mario.