You must have noticed a white “Z” emblem stylized with a thick brush stroke on many Russian military vehicles, which has become the symbol of Russia’s war against Ukraine. This emblem also began to find its place on the car windows and T-shirts of pro-Russian ultranationalists.
According to the news of Businnes Insider, in the past few weeks, the “Z” symbol has gone beyond being a military symbol and has become a symbol of strong support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The “Z” symbol was first seen on Russian military vehicles that entered the Donetsk region of Ukraine on February 22.
Twitter commentators speculated that the “Z” symbols appearing on military vehicles framed by squares, triangles, and other painted shapes might be a way to identify infantry. Kamil Galeev, a former Galina Starovoitova Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Fellow at the policy think tank Wilson Center, tweeted that some interpreted the “Z” as “za pobedy” (short for “victory” in Russian). Others have guessed that the “Z” was short for “zapad” (or west) and meant to denote infantry heading west.
Let’s discuss what’s happening in Russia. To put it simply, it’s going full fascist. Authorities launched a propaganda campaign to gain popular support for their invasion of Ukraine and they’re getting lots of it. You can see “Z” on these guys’ clothes. What does it mean? ?? pic.twitter.com/F2zjcpJCDZ
— Kamil Galeev (@kamilkazani) March 6, 2022
Although the letter “Z” is not in the Cyrillic Russian alphabet, it is surprising to many that it has suddenly become a symbol. It is known that special vehicles in Russia have also begun to be decorated with the “Z” logo.
It found a lot of supporters. Many Russians are putting “Z” on their cars – that’s totally voluntary and to my best knowledge nobody’s forcing them pic.twitter.com/sanIdE1rwE
— Kamil Galeev (@kamilkazani) March 6, 2022
A crowd of pro-Russian far-right Serbian protesters marching in Belgrade also used the “Z” symbol.
Similarly, a group of Russian nationalists in Leningrad wore clothes with a white “Z” and chanted “We will not give up what is ours”. It’s unclear when the video was filmed, but it surfaced on social media in the first week of March.
Russian nationalists are rallying in support of the war with Ukraine pic.twitter.com/IonxefBoef
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) March 6, 2022
Last Sunday, a Russian gymnast, appeared at the medal ceremony with a “Z” taped to his uniform
For the record. It is not just Putin.
Photo: Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak at World Cup in Doha shows his support for Russian aggression in Ukraine by wearing a T-shirt with the letter Z on it – the same symbol, Russians mark their armor in Ukraine.
S Unian pic.twitter.com/WYiLH4Lo8I
— Denis Kazakiewicz (@Den_2042) March 6, 2022
Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak in front of his uniform accepting the medal at the World Gymnastics Cup in Doha on Sunday affixed a “Z” sign. The winner was Illia Kovtun from Ukraine.
The International Gymnastics Federation called on the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation to investigate Kuliak’s actions.
Maria Butina, a convicted Russian spy and current member of the Russian State Duma, took off her jacket and drew a “Z” on her collar in a video.
Just another day in the life of Maria Butina:
Drawing a white “Z” marking on your lapel to show solidarity with the invasion of Ukraine pic.twitter.com/raYG3kRznT
— Francis Scarr (@francska1) March 3, 2022
Some experts point out that the Z is not the only symbol. Indeed, we can see V or different letters and shapes on the vehicles.
The invasion hadn’t even begun when Rob Lee, a doctoral student focusing on Russian defense policy, first saw these signs. “This is a giant red flag,” Lee said on Twitter. “These are Rosgvardia troops and Avtozaks (prisoner transport) vehicles. A strong sign that Rosgvardia troops will take part in the invasion.” The Russian National Guard, or Rosgvardia, is separate from the Russian Armed Forces as a group accountable only to President Putin.
Another guess is that Russian soldiers used symbols as a way to avoid friendly fire, making it easier to identify Russian vehicles. According to Professor Michael Clarke, former director of the defense research center RUSI, in an interview with Sky News, “These symbols are often location-based – they may be telling where a unit is going. If they had just marked vehicles as Russian, a single symbol could have been used. The fact that they are different tells you more.” – possibly markings that tell which units are heading northeast or northwest of an area.”
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