A video appeared from Kazakhstan. Local residents made a person cover a Z symbol on his car with paint.

He tried to justify himself that his last name, Zinovyev, starts with a Z, and apologized for his actions.

https://t.me/pravdaGerashchenko_en/27934

    • Wilshire@lemmy.caOP
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      1 year ago

      “Z” is a military symbol that the Russian military has been painting on vehicles in Ukraine. It’s become a pro-war symbol for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

      • Alto@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        To expand, it’s essentially the Russian version of the German iron cross in ww2, and has very similar connotations.

        • Skua@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          I’m not sure that analogy really holds. The iron cross had been part of German military iconography since before Germany was even a united country, whereas this Z thing appears to have popped up specifically for the current Russian invasion

          • Alto@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            The connotations of the iron cross during ww2 and the Russian Z now are very much similar.

            Nowhere did I claim the connotation of the iron cross outside of ww2 carried the same connotation, because it very clearly doesn’t.

          • Alto@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            That would be why I specified in ww2. The connotation is very different now.

    • Epilektoi_Hoplitai@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Upvote for a sincere question. Here’s the wiki article on its use as a fascistic pro-war symbol. Kazakhs are unhappy with it because they too are a country that Russia makes territorial claims against and are thus largely opposed to the war and its symbols.

    • Troy@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      That depends. Kazakhstan switched the Kazakh language to the roman alphabet recently. So now Russian names, when transliterated to Kazakh can start with Z. Still, in this context, it’s probably not being used that way.