Why has the letter Z become the symbol of war for Russia?
The origins of the symbol, sported by athletes and popping up on social media, are a mystery, but several theories have been proposed
Open source analysts and military experts first spotted the mysterious Z-shaped letter hand-painted on Russian tanks and military trucks massed on the Ukrainian border on 19 February, leading to widespread speculation among western experts as to what the letter meant.
As Russia’s invasion began, more military hardware was spotted emblazoned with Zs, as well as other letters, including O, X, A and V. The letters seen on the hardware were usually framed by squares, triangles, and other painted shapes. The letter Z does not exist in the Cyrillic Russian alphabet.
The most popular theory used by military experts to explain the letters is that they were written according to the respective areas where the Russian troops are usually stationed, with Z potentially standing for Zapad (west).
Others believe the letters were drawn in an attempt to avoid friendly fire, while some pro-Kremlin Russian military experts have speculated that the letter Z stands for the name of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the letter V for Vladimir Putin.
The Russian defense ministry itself has not commented on any of the theories, and instead posted on its Instagram channel that Z meant Za pobedu (“for victory”) and V stood for “power of truth”. ...
