The letter, which first appeared on Russian armor, was quickly erected as a symbol.
This weekend the war in Ukraine was exported during international sports competitions. After placing third in the parallel bars event this Saturday at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Doha, Qatar, Russian gymnast Ivan Kulyak decided to express his support for the military invasion his country is currently leading against its Ukrainian neighbor.
How?” or “What?” By sticking the letter “Z” on his swimsuit at the level of the torso. The gesture is perceived as a political position, and the last letter of the alphabet since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine has become a symbol behind which support for the army of Vladimir Putin is grouped. Later, on the podium, the Russian gymnast initially refused to appear in the official photo of the medalists, among whom was the Ukrainian Ilya Kovtun, the main winner of the day.
First appearance on Russian armor
Faced with what she considered a provocation, the International Gymnastics Federation decided to open disciplinary proceedings against the Russian gymnast. But the incident, above all, testifies to the symbolic importance of this “Z”, less than two weeks after the start of the Russian attack.
The letter appeared in the back of Vladimir Putin’s armored vehicles, which were returning to Ukraine on February 24. Carelessly painted with white paint or spray paint, it first of all aroused bewilderment of international observers. What does the letter of the Latin alphabet do on equipment belonging to the army of a country that uses the Cyrillic alphabet? Experts put forward several hypotheses, none of which has yet come to a consensus.
Former spy in the service of “Z”.
In any case, the Kremlin quickly realized the power of their “Z”, not ashamed to put it as a symbol of their armed forces and their military operation. Russia Today (RT), a Kremlin-funded television channel that has been banned from broadcasting in EU countries since March 2, has launched a sale of T-shirts with the flock of this famous “Z” on its website.
“All profits from the sale of these T-shirts will go to refugees from the Donbass (a pro-Russian separatist region located in eastern Ukraine – ed.) and the heroes of the RT project “Child of War,” the publication writes on its page. website.
Social media also organized mobilization using the famous “Z”. Just look at the Instagram account of Maria Butina. Convicted in 2019 by an American court for spying for Russia, elected in 2021 to the Russian Duma under the flag of Vladimir Putin’s party, he has not stopped multiplying references to the letter since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine.
Together with her team, she appeared on Tuesday, March 1, in a T-shirt with the famous inscription. Two days later, it was in the video that she staged herself this time by writing the letter “Z” with a white marker on the collar of her jacket.
In addition to the most loyal supporters of Vladimir Putin and his military operation, Z is gradually attracting members of Russian society who agree with the military operation. So, on Twitter, academician Kamil Galeev shared many photos of cars belonging to Russian persons, where a white letter “Z” was affixed to the body.
In this avalanche of propaganda images, it is difficult to determine the real popularity of writing among the Russian population. The events that took place this weekend in Russia, however, allow him to qualify. Police in Russia arrested 5,000 people on Sunday as part of demonstrations against the Russian military operation in Ukraine, according to the public organization OVD-Info.