We saw them from the first day in the long columns of tanks that invaded Ukraine. Large Z’s painted white on the side or back of the khaki case. It is all the more intriguing that the letter Z does not exist in the Cyrillic alphabet used by Russians. We heard everything in 12 days about its meaning, including the craziest ones; and even military experts disagree.
For some, this is a sign of distinction: Russian and Ukrainian tanks are very similar, Z will allow you not to hit the target by mistake. The method worked well during World War II. Others feel that it is more important to identify different intervention groups. The Ukrainian army headquarters also released a document listing various symbols used by the Russians.
I wonder what the letters on Russian military equipment mean? The General Staff of Ukraine provided the decoder:
Z: Eastern Forces
|Z| – Crimea Forces
O – Forces from Belarus
V – marines
X – Kadyrov’s Chechens
A – Spetsnaz (Rosgvardia, FSB, Spetsnaz) pic.twitter.com/pkbDw01nr3— Dmitry Alperovich (@DAlperovitch) March 2, 2022Z for troops located in eastern Ukraine, Z inside the square for those patrolling Crimea, O or circle for troops in Belarus.
For its part, the Ministry of Defense did not give a proper explanation, but on Friday, March 4, it published two propaganda videos on its Twitter account, in which a huge letter Z is clearly visible. On the first one, you can read “denazification” (terminology borrowed from Vladimir Putin, who wants to “denazify” Ukraine), and on the other – the expression “For victory”. But by no means Z Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, as some have argued for a while.
This Z today has become a symbol of support for the war, including among the civilian population. We draw on garbage trucks, we draw with stickers on the windshields of cars. Companies and newspapers with a Z in their name changed the letter to make it stand out. Social media, from TikTok to Facebook, is full of videos of young people together forming a big Z while waving Russian flags, the scene is filmed from the sky.
@angelikochka444 We don’t leave our own! #We don’t leave our own#For the President#RussiaThis isPower#WeForPeaceWorldwide ♬ original sound44 angel
We also see very neat videos of the flash mob, where all the participants are dressed in a black T-shirt with a large white letter Z, which is sold for $ 12 on the website of the Russia Today TV channel. Politicians, influencers, pro-Putin experts are depicted on TV shows with this symbol as a sign of “support for the military.”
Russian Ivan Kulyak wore the letter Z on his chest during the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Doha.
The letter Z is reportedly a symbol of support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Kulyak won bronze in uneven bars. Kovtun Ilya from Ukraine won gold.)https://t.co/iZ1Kb5RIUq pic.twitter.com/Qi6wGHMGHO— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) March 5, 2022
Athletes are also displayed with this symbol. This weekend, during the Gymnastics World Cup in Doha, the Russian placed 3rd wore the letter Z on his leotard instead of his country’s initials. His coach supported him, but the Federation demanded a disciplinary investigation.
This Z has become so common that the whole thing actually looks more like a well-planned campaign to mobilize the support of an army of state-paid propagandists in order to spread this symbol as widely as possible and give it a false appearance of popularity. A good way to saturate social networks and limit the spread of images of the war, the real one.