Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider approves of Ukrainians using ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ as battle cry

‘This can’t happen to these people again,’ singer says

Dee Snider has endorsed the singing by Ukrainians of his 1984 hit “We’re Not Gonna Take It” as a battle cry, amid the ongoing Russian invasion.

The Twisted Sister singer is the sole credited writer on the Eighties hit, and has previously rejected attempts to co-opt it by anti-vaxxers.

Reports have since emerged that the track, taken from the rock band’s third studio album Stay Hungry, is being used to help convey Ukraine’s message of defiance in response to the crisis.

“I absolutely approve of Ukrainians using ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ as their battle cry,” Snider said, posting from his social media accounts.

He added: “My grandfather was Ukrainian, before it was swallowed up by the USSR after WW2. This can’t happen to these people again.”

Explaining his decision to approve the song’s use by Ukrainians as a protest anthem, he wrote: ““Well, one use is for a righteous battle against oppression; the other is an infantile feet-stomping against an inconvenience.”

Snider has been vocal about his stance regarding the Ukraine-Russia crisis since Russian president Vladimir Putin launched his invasion.

Initially, he used the hashtag “F*** Russia”. However, he has since changed his hashtags to “F*** Putin”, after fans asked him to take his anger out on Putin, rather than Russian civilians.

Follow live updates on the Ukraine-Russia crisis here.