The letters Z and V, which Russia uses in the war in Ukraine, including putting them into service, are identification marks similar to the Latin letters "confusingly." This is stated in the response of the chief military herald of the Russian Ministry of Defense Alexander Manakov to the request of the deputy of the Yekaterinburg City Duma Alexei Kholodarev.

Kholodarev was fined 40 thousand rubles for “discrediting the army” due to the fact that in the post the Russian letters “Z” were replaced with Latin Z. The police referred to the post of the Ministry of Defense, according to which Z and V stand for “Za victory” and “ Force V to truth. At the same time, in response to the deputy’s request, it is said that assigning any meaning to them is an “unofficial initiative”.

On June 21, the Ministry of Agriculture of Dagestan showed a drive of sheep with the letters Z on their backs to Oleg Gazmanov's song "Forward, Russia." The video was posted on the department's Telegram channel, but then it was deleted. Recording managed to distribute in other channels.

Earlier in June, it was reported that a service station in the Krasnogvardeysky district of Crimea, where they refused to service a military truck with the Z symbol, would be demolished. The head of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, said that the car service was built illegally. The owner of the car service posted a video in which he explains that the truck was refused to be repaired due to the lack of the necessary equipment. He added that social media users began to accuse him of links with Ukraine because of the country's flag published on the VKontakte page.

Initially, the symbols Z and V were applied to military equipment with which the Russian army invaded Ukraine. After that, the Russian Ministry of Defense began to use these symbols as support for the Russian military. In many cities of Russia, flash mobs are held using these symbols, often state employees, students or children are driven to them. For example, the Kazan hospice staged a flash mob with the participation of child patients, their parents and staff - they all lined up in the shape of a large letter Z on the street. The symbol was banned in Ukraine , Lithuania and Germany .