Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military invasion of Ukraine, the letter “Z” — even though it is represented with a different sign in the Cyrillic alphabet — has popped up in curious places: on Russian tanks, trucks and cars, on a gymnast’s leotard, in a formation of terminally ill Russian children who were seemingly told to show their support for the nation.
The “Z” has also been seen in other places throughout Russia, including in newspapers, on billboards and on merchandise, after RT, Russia’s state-owned media network, announced in February that it was selling T-shirts and hoodies featuring the symbol.
Military and foreign policy experts say the letter has become an apparent rallying cry for the “military operation” that Putin’s government has undertaken and forbidden citizens to call a “war” or “invasion.” Here’s a rundown on what we know about the use of “Z” in recent weeks.
What does the ‘Z’ stand for?
There are several theories on what the use of the letter actually represents, including a theory that it is a “state-induced meme.”
That’s according to Vasily Gatov, a Russian-American media analyst, who told the New York Times: “There are always people receptive to this kind of message.”
Russia’s defense ministry has not explicitly commented on the use of the letter in its current context, but did post on Instagram last week that the pro-war symbol stems from the Russian phrase “За победу,” which starts with a “Z” sound and means “for the victory.”
It’s been speculated that the symbols could have been painted on military tanks and other gear to avoid friendly fire given that Ukrainian military hardware was also manufactured in Russia.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Tyson Wetzel explained to the military news outlet Task & Purpose that “‘Z’ markings (and others like it) are a deconfliction measure to help prevent fratricide, or friendly fire incidents,” because military equipment used by Russians and Ukrainians is often indistinguishable.
Others have suggested the letter could stand for the “Z” in the last name of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — who has described himself as “target No. 1” for Putin.
Where has ‘Z’ been seen?
One of the first appearances of the letter in connection with the conflict in Ukraine came on Feb. 19, five days before Russia began its invasion, when Russian military tanks and other trucks massing at the Ukrainian border were emblazoned on their sides with a large white “Z.”
In Doha, Qatar, on Saturday, a Russian gymnast, Ivan Kuliak, taped a “Z” symbol to his leotard when he appeared on the medal podium at a World Cup event next to a Ukrainian, Illia Kovtun. Kuliak won the bronze medal, while Kovtun took the gold.
While the International Gymnastics Federation has since said it’s investigating the gymnast for his “shocking behavior,” Kuliak has said he doesn’t regret it, telling RT: “If there was a second chance, and I had a choice whether to go out with the letter ‘Z’ on my chest or not, I would do the same.”
Maria Butina, a Russian member of parliament who was jailed in the U.S. after being convicted for acting as a Russian agent and trying to infiltrate conservative politics near the 2016 election, recently shared a video of herself drawing a white “Z” on her blazer. “Keep up the work, brothers. We are with you. Forever,” she says in the clip. Butina shared another photo of herself with colleagues donning black T-shirts emblazoned with the white letter.
In a recent photograph taken at a children’s hospice center in Russia, kids were seen lining up in a “Z”-shaped formation. “Our patients and entire team took part in it, about 60 people in total,” Vladimir Vavilov, who runs a cancer charity that operates a hospice in Kazan, said of the photo.
“People lined up in the form of the letter ‘Z,’” he was also reported to have said of the photo. “In our left hand, we held leaflets with the flags of the LPR, DPR, Russia and Tatarstan, and we clenched our right hand into a fist.”
LPR and DPR stand for Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic, two pro-Russian areas of Ukraine that declared their independence in 2014.
