As two researchers explain to Sky News Arabia, although the use of letters as symbols to distinguish forces from each other on the battlefield is common, Russia’s use of these letters accompanied by them as Russian “symbols of victory” is what prompted Kiev to ban them. .
And Ukraine’s Interior Ministry issued a statement prohibiting the use of these two letters on private transport license plates, which are the two letters that Russian forces put on their vehicles.
Russia previously promoted images and videos online showing Russian tanks and other military equipment that appeared to have the Latin letter Z written in white, as well as the letter V, as well as the appearance of the letter Z in a square, circle, or triangle, and some vehicles only had a triangle painted on them.
Repel cultural invasion
Dr. Watling Kudrakhin, a specialist in international affairs at the Ukrainian National University in Odessa, justifies his country’s recent decision as part of its efforts to “deal with the Russian cultural incursion into Ukraine, in particular the letters V and Z, because they express superiority and victory. in the war”, which has been going on for 13 months between the two countries.
Kudrakhin also points out that this ban coincides with Kiev’s stage of preparation for its large-scale counterattack against Russia, which has confirmed that it is “coming to an end”, in the spring battle to reclaim land. Ukrainians annexed by Russia in recent months.
What is the meaning of the symbols?
At the start of the operation, the Russian Ministry of Defense posted on Instagram that the symbol Z is an abbreviation of “Victory”. The V represents the words “Our strength is in the truth” and “The work will be finished”. Civilians used the Z symbol to support Russian forces in battle. Russian “Telegram” channels have included the letter Z in their names since the end of February 2022.
These symbols also have other uses in the heart of the field: according to the Ukrainian army, the Russians used Z for the Russian forces in the eastern region, V for the Marines and Z in the square for the Russian forces in Crimea; Symbols have always been a common way for Russian forces to distinguish their soldiers from Ukrainians.
usual
International affairs scholar Ahmed Sultan points out that the use of such symbols is common military practice to distinguish friendly forces from enemy, and is not a monopoly nor necessarily a symbol of Russian success in battles, except that some of them have recently embraced the Russian identity.
And he gives an example that the symbol Z has become part of the Russian national identity. During his participation in the 2022 Gymnastics World Cup series during the war, Russian gymnast Ivan Kulyak wore a T-shirt with the Z symbol while standing. next to Ukrainian gymnast Ilya Kovtun on the podium, the Russian network RT carried goods bearing the same symbol as a sign of support for Russian forces.
On the other hand, he gives examples of experiences of using these symbols in the United States and Ukraine as well, as well as in Russia:
The US military painted black and white “stripes” on its helicopters during the Battle of Normandy in 1944 to prevent Allied forces landing on the beaches from inadvertently firing at its planes. US forces painted an inverted V on their vehicles as an identifying symbol during Operation Desert Storm. During the Battle of Kharkiv, locals used Z codes to identify Russian vehicles and track their location on Telegram. Russian vehicles along the Russian-Ukrainian border displayed a Z symbol during the 2021-2022 Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
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