What started as curious white markings painted on Russian tanks and trucks has now become the symbol of Vladimir Putin’s own version of War Z.
Now the letter “Z” has become akin to a new “swastika” or a symbol of hatred and appears wherever supporters of Russia’s uninvited invasion of Ukraine can be found.
Kamil Galeev, a Woodrow Wilson Center research fellow at Galina Starovoitova, curated examples of the use of the creepy character on Twitter. “Z” is the letter that the Russian military puts on their vehicles going to Ukraine. Some interpret “Z” as “For victory”. Others are like “West” (West). One way or another, this symbol, coined only a few days ago, has become a symbol of the new Russian ideology and national identity,” he tweeted before the invasion. Galeev now believes the symbol means Putin has taken a cue from the world’s worst tyrants, including Benito Mussolini. “To put it simply, this is becoming total fascism,” he tweeted. “The authorities launched a propaganda campaign to gain popular support for their invasion of Ukraine, and they are receiving it in large numbers.”
Indeed, this symbol is most likely not directly related to Mussolini’s fascia symbol, which also featured the letter “Z”, and is not a reference to Brad Pitt’s 2013 film World War Z, which premiered at the Moscow Film Festival in the same year, although he could argue that the Russian forces are not all that different from the zombie invasion on which the film is based.
But it is definitely gaining popularity. Over the weekend, Russian gymnast Ivan Kulyak was spotted wearing a white “Z” on his leotard as he stood next to Ukrainian Kovtun Ilya, who had just won gold at the Gymnastics World Cup in Doha, Qatar.
Critically ill Russian children at a cancer center in Kazan were reportedly forced to line up in “Z” for a photo that was widely shared on social media. The badges of the dead Ukrainian soldiers were also photographed lined up in a “Z” shape, and the letter appeared on the flags, on trucks, and in convoys alleged supporters of Putin’s war.
There is even a video of Russian spy Marina Butina pleading guilty in 2018 to conspiracy to act as a foreign agent. pattern on the lapel her jackets.
It’s hard to tell if the letter, which may have been used at first simply to identify Russian military hardware to distinguish it from Ukrainian hardware, has any other hidden meaning. The letter “Z” does not exist in Cyrillic, but now it has become the most visible symbol of Russia’s senseless war.