A seemingly harmless ‘Baby Yoda’ patch on the armored vest of Ukrainian Army Commander-in-Chief Valery Zalushny has sparked an internet storm. A small symbol with a big impact, wowing the masses and even leading to humorous interpretations of military ranks.

The force is with him: A picture of the Ukrainian army commander-in-chief Valery Saluschny, which shows him with a “Baby Yoda” patch on his bulletproof vest, has quickly become an internet hit.

The press office of the Ukrainian army published a video of Salushny visiting troops on Monday evening. In the middle of his bulletproof vest there is a clearly visible patch showing the green-skinned alien Grogu aka “Baby Yoda”, known from the Netflix series “The Mandalorian”.

The reactions were not long in coming. “The Force is strong in him,” wrote the business journal Business Ukraine. “God, Zalushny and Baby Yoda are with us,” one netizen commented, while another jokingly introduced the new military ranks of the Ukrainian army: “Yoda Lieutenant”, “Yoda Commander” and “Yoda Brigadier General”.

One user posted pictures of military epaulettes with Yoda’s likeness, and in a meme the gigantic “Motherland” statue in Kiev was replaced by the creature from the Star Wars universe. “You can put a non-compliant badge on your body armor and the photo will go viral. That’s called charisma,” MP Iryna Gerashchenko commented on Facebook.