Z (military symbol)

The Latin-script letter Z (Russian: зет, romanized: zet, IPA: [zɛt]) is one of several symbols (including "V" and "O") painted on military vehicles of the Russian Armed Forces involved in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is speculated that the Z helps distinguish task forces from one another and serves as an identifier to avoid friendly fire; however, Russian officials have claimed various meanings for the symbol.

Due to its association with the war in Ukraine, the Z has become a militarist symbol in Russian propaganda and is used by Russian civilians to indicate support for the invasion, further adopted later by Russian far-right organizations. The symbol has subsequently been banned from public display in various countries, and its use has been criminalized by several European governments. Opponents of the war have pejoratively called the Z symbol a zwastika or zwaztika, in reference to the Nazi swastika, or derisively in Russian and Ukrainian as ziga (Russian: зига), in reference to Sieg Heil. Some Ukrainian officials and Internet users have referred to Russia as Ruzzia or RuZZia (Russian: Роzzия or РоZZия; Ukrainian: Роzzія or РоZZія), replacing the letter S with a Z in reference to the military symbol.