With The Letter 'Z,' Russia Is 'Going Full Fascist'
Russians appear to be taking dark turn after early days protesting Putin's invasion
After making international headlines for days of demonstrations out in the streets of cities across their massive country, protesting Vladimir Putin's bloody incursion into Ukraine, Russians have — more recently — begun taking a dark turn.
And to see it, all you have to do is look for the letter “Z.”
This is according to Kamil Galeev, a writer and former fellow at The Wilson Center, a non-partisan policy forum for tackling global issues.
“To put it simply, it's going full fascist. Authorities launched a propaganda campaign to gain popular support for their invasion of Ukraine and they're getting lots of it. You can see ‘Z’ on these guys' clothes. What does it mean?” Galeev tweeted.
“Z” is a letter that the Russian military are putting on their vehicles departing to Ukraine. Some interpret “Z” as “Za pobedy” (for victory). Others, as “Zapad” (West).
“Anyway, this symbol invented just a few days ago became a symbol of new Russian ideology and national identity,” Galeev explained.
This new “Z” identity movement appears to be finding a lot of supporters, he said.
“Many Russians are putting “Z” on their cars - that's totally voluntary and to my best knowledge nobody's forcing them,” Galeev wrote.
As well, business owners are putting “Z” on their trucks as a way of showing their support of Putin's lawless invasion of the sovereign and democratic Ukraine.
It's becoming a powerful propaganda symbol, according to Galeev, noting images of Russian military making Z letters out of badges of killed Ukrainian soldiers, and even posed photos of terminally ill children from hospice and their parents making a “Z” formation.
“Yes, Russians are forcing terminally ill children dying from cancer, and their families to declare their support to Russian invasion of Ukraine,” he said.
There's more support for the invasion among the Russian people than many in the West had assumed, Galeev said.
“Some argue that Russian people don't support this invasion and this is all Putin's responsibility. Yes, decision was taken by Putin and was a surprise even for his ministers. But once it was taken, it found huge popular support. People are cheering, they're proud and enthusiastic,” he wrote.
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