How “Z” became Putin’s new propaganda meme - YouTube

On March 5th, 2022, Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak stepped on the podium

at the International Gymnastics  Federation World Cup in Doha, Qatar.

He won the bronze medal in the parallel bars.

Next to him was Illia Kovtun, the  gold medal winner from Ukraine

and silver medalist Milad  Karimi, representing Kazahstan.

The situation was already tense.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had  begun just nine days earlier.

And Kuliak decided to show his support for the  war, by attaching this symbol to his uniform:

three pieces of white tape, forming the letter Z.

By that time, the Z was  becoming an obsession in Russia.

And a controversial symbol worldwide

as the new way to signal approval for the war

and loyalty to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Since the invasion began in late February, the Z  has shown up on billboards in St. Petersburg...

T-shirt stands in Moscow...

Auto rallys...

And flash mobs created for social media.

There’s even this photo – posted on the  website of a children’s cancer hospice

showing sick children organized into  the shape, outside, in the snow.

The letter has been used to vandalize  the homes of Russians who oppose the war

and is now banned from public  display in several countries.

So how did this symbol become shorthand  for supporting Russian aggression?

The letter Z was first  spotted in late February 2022

on Russian military equipment  gathering at Ukraine’s border.

Along with other painted  white markings, like V and O.

At first, what these symbols meant was unclear

Z isn’t part of the Cyrillic Alphabet – the writing system used in Russia and Ukraine.

The Z sound in Cyrillic is  written sort of like a 3.

And “V” looks like the Latin letter “B.”

But once the invasion began, most analysts  agreed the markings were for tactical purposes

likely to prevent confusion on the battlefield.

And potentially denoting where  specific forces were attacking from.

The Russian military didn’t  explain what the markings meant.

Until intrigue around them grew online

and people in Russia saw the chance  to use the Z as a tool for propaganda.

One of the most common ways that the letter Z is being given meaning in Russian

is by latinizing it in the Russian word "Za" which means for.

And in incorporating it into slogans like

[speaking in Russian] For victory.

[speaking in Russian] For the president.

[speaking in Russian] For the boys.

So there was an attempt to fill it.

That's Aglaya Snetkov.

She's a lecturer on Russian foreign, security,  and domestic policy at University College London.

You increasingly have pictures  which are so absurdly staged.

It's obviously fake, but it sort of doesn't matter.

So the pictures of the kids, for  example, who can't even read or write

they obviously have no idea what the Z  they're holding means or anything like that.

But it sort of almost doesn't matter  so long as you throw it out there.

Click on these slogans’ hashtags,  like “for russia” and “for peace”

and you’ll find tens of thousands  of posts on Instagram alone.

Many of them originating from  the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The political technologists in Russia, in Kremlin,

and in and around the Ministry of Defense

have decided to jump on the opportunity

and reinfuse the meaning of  those obscure symbols.

Kiril Avramov teaches classes on Russian  and Soviet symbolism and propaganda  

at the University of Texas, Austin.

Avramov told me the point of  these memes is to turn the Z  

and sometimes the V into something cool.

He translated a few of them.

Is like street slang for "for the boys".

"Power is in truth." Which is actually  a quote from a post-Soviet blockbuster.

They're picking already familiar slogans to  post-Soviet Russians and putting into those visuals

and then recreating those in flash mobs...  

graffiti...

and all the way to the  presidential administration.

One strategy for turning Z into  a patriotic propaganda icon

has been connecting it to  Russian glory of the past

in particular, the Soviet  victory in World War II.  

The Soviet Union suffered devastating losses  defending itself against invasion by Nazi Germany.

But they were ultimately victorious,  

with the Red Army fighting its way  back to Berlin and defeating Hitler,

establishing the Soviet  Union as a world superpower.

The “Great Patriotic War” is still a potent  symbol of heroism and glory in Russia.

And is honored each year on May 9th, or “Victory  Day” - the anniversary of Germany’s capitulation.

With massive demonstrations  of modern military might

and remembrance of ancestors  who were killed in the war.

The historical trauma is immense in Soviet times.

There was a huge sacrifice on  the part of the Soviet people.

And those are some highly symbolic events.

This ever-present historical awareness makes  World War II imagery a direct link to patriotism,

and presents the opportunity to  connect the nostalgia of Soviet heroism  

with Russia’s current attacks on Ukraine.

Take this meme posted to the Russian  Ministry of Defense’s Instagram

on March 4, 2022, which as of  early April has over 21,000 likes.

It shows a “Z” superimposed over a black and  white photo of Soviet soldiers on one side...

and a photo of modern Russian soldiers  looking back on the other side.

The hashtag says “heroes".

The photo on the left is a famous image from  the original Moscow Victory Parade of 1945  

celebrating Germany’s surrender.

It’s still the largest parade ever held in Moscow’s Red Square

organized by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

The image shows Soviet soldiers carrying captured  Nazi flags and banners before destroying them

and has been used in Soviet and post-Soviet  patriotic propaganda ever since.

So every Russian and Soviet person  would recognize that immediately.

The “Z” is paired with the slogan  “za pobedu” - “for victory”

and is styled in black and orange stripes.

Which, other than plain white, is the  most common way the Z is displayed.

The pattern represents the color  scheme of the Ribbon of St. George

one of Putin’s favorite propaganda symbols.

Its origins trace back through  hundreds of years of Russian history

as a symbol of military glory.

At the end of World War II, Stalin  used the ribbon on a medal awarded  

to all Soviets who served in  the war – including civilians.

The ribbon, which everyone knows is, you  know, if you see it it's the Russian military  

might and its a signifier that you're Russian.

The ribbon of St. George is now handed  out every year ahead of Victory Day

and is a central emblem of the celebrations.

Invoking the memory of glorious past in  order to play this propaganda trick, right?

Equating this war with this one, in  terms of justness and legitimacy.  

Beyond emerging as the new  mark of loyalty to Putin

the Z doesn’t hold any individual meaning.

And that seems to be part  of the strategy behind it.

And that, I think, shows the way  in which Putin's propaganda works,

He throws things out there, sees  what lands, and then goes with that.

The symbol just became  recognizable, the explanations  

which I call "post rationalization" is that this  is all planned, what the Zs and the Vs stand for.

For victory. For Zelenskyy. Or you name it.

The advancement of so many  

alternative explanations actually adds energy to the state propaganda.

Whether or not any of these  explanations end up sticking,  

the Z’s evolution from tanks and trucks...

to memes...

then flash mobs around Russia...

to pro-Putin demonstrations around the world...

shows that as a symbol’s visibility grows,  so does its power as a tool for propaganda.