---
title: "Ukrainians Are Manipulating Road Signs To Confuse Russian Invaders"
description: "The tactic of removing signage that might be of use to invading forces dates back to at least World War Two."
date: "2022-02-28"
modified: "2022-02-28"
authors:
  - name: "Brett Tingley"
    link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/brett-tingley"
url: "https://www.twz.com/44492/ukrainians-are-manipulating-road-signs-to-confuse-russian-invaders"
categories:
  - "Armies"
  - "Around The Globe"
  - "Europe"
  - "Land"
  - "News & Features"
  - "Russia"
  - "Ukraine"
  - "Ukrainian Army"
tags:
  - "civil defense"
  - "convoys"
  - "highways"
  - "Invasion of Ukraine"
  - "road signs"
  - "russia"
  - "Russia and Ukraine"
  - "Russian invasion"
  - "tactics"
  - "Ukraine"
  - "Ukravtodor"
---

# Ukrainians Are Manipulating Road Signs To Confuse Russian Invaders

![](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-twz/content/2022/02/Russia-road-signs-Ukraine.jpg>)
*www.twz.com*

As Russian forces [continue their assault](<https://www.twz.com/44481/ukraines-first-round-of-talks-with-russia-ends-without-a-ceasefire-agreement>) on Ukraine, Ukrainian civil transportation authorities are instructing citizens and local authorities to remove road signs in an effort to confuse or delay invaders. Images posted to social media throughout the weekend also show a number of signs throughout the country that have been defaced or altered to show obscene messages directed at Russian troops.

On Saturday, February 26, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense encouraged citizens to “confuse and disorient the enemy who is illegally moving around Ukraine” by removing street signs or signs with the names of cities and villages.

https://twitter.com/\_/status/1497573115550961670

Ukraine's state transportation authority [Ukravtodor](<https://ukravtodor.gov.ua/>) posted several messages to Facebook today showing road crews installing signs with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s face inside of a [prohibition symbol](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_symbol>), or slashed circle.

Another post by Ukravtodor depicts what appears to be a photoshopped road sign containing [three messages](<https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-roads-company-removing-road-signs-confuse-russians-2022-02-27/>) to Russian soldiers pointing in various directions: “Go fuck yourself,” “Go fuck yourself again,” and “Go fuck yourself back to Russia.”

While the sign in the image isn't real, the organization's message certainly is. The caption accompanying the post calls for local authorities throughout Ukraine to take down road and city signs and then to hand these over to local authorities. "The enemy has poor communications, they cannot navigate the terrain," the [post](<https://www.facebook.com/Ukravtodor.Gov.Ua/posts/321509113341039>) states. "Let us help them get straight to hell."

Images shared on social media show some Ukrainian road signs being removed altogether:

https://twitter.com/\_/status/1497621750313533445

https://twitter.com/\_/status/1497580698386853889

https://twitter.com/\_/status/1497553950823829506

https://twitter.com/\_/status/1497674838336581637

Other images show electronic road signs above Ukrainian highways displaying the message “Russian warship, go fuck yourself,” in homage to an identical message famously transmitted to an attacking vessel by Ukrainian soldiers [stationed on Snake Island](<https://www.twz.com/44453/the-ghost-of-kyiv-is-the-mythical-hero-ukraine-needs-right-now>), shortly before the ship opened fire.

https://twitter.com/\_/status/1497571491788955654

https://twitter.com/\_/status/1497878314475794432

Some Ukrainians have reportedly been defacing road markers and other signs with messages directed at Russian troops operating in Ukraine:

https://twitter.com/\_/status/1497648438577491969

https://twitter.com/\_/status/1498293820441743361

The tactic of removing or altering road signs to confuse invaders has been used throughout modern conflicts. British troops [removed signs](<https://history.blog.gov.uk/2015/06/18/invasion-publicity-during-the-second-world-war/>) from roads and rail stations throughout the United Kingdom during World War Two, while Kuwaitis [removed](<https://www.newsweek.com/kuwait-rape-nation-201584>) or [spray-painted road signs](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/08/15/occupied-kuwait-defiant-resistance-mixes-with-fear/5c12c85e-a767-4f35-8447-4713988057ab/>) during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

![message-editor%2F1646075691843-large\_000000.jpg](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor%2F1646075691843-large_000000.jpg>)
*A signpost in Surrey, England being dismantled as part of a campaign to remove signs ahead of a possible German invasion during World War Two., *Imperial War Museum**

Recent satellite imagery has shown that Russia has [assembled a massive convoy](<https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-ground-forces-move-closer-kyiv-convoy-stretches-miles-maxar-2022-02-28>) north of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv stretching over 17 miles. There have been multiple reports of Russian supply convoys getting lost or stuck in rough terrain inside Ukraine, leading many [to be abandoned](<https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1497892024359477255>) or [looted](<https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1498191622118510597?s=20&t=25BZaoq9wWTCfvTLdLl3nA>). As fighting continues throughout Ukraine and [spills into](<https://www.twz.com/44481/ukraines-first-round-of-talks-with-russia-ends-without-a-ceasefire-agreement>) densely populated urban areas, it's likely we will see more road signs removed and other civil defense tactics used to impede Russia's ground forces from navigating easily within the country.

*Contact the author: Brett@TheDrive.com*​

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