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It has become a sinister symbol marking support for Russia’s barbaric .

First seen on tanks and armoured vehicles on the battlefield, the letter Z has since been adopted for propaganda purposes by ‘s supporters back home.

It has appeared on cars, clothing and signs and in images such as a sick photo of a Z reportedly made by Russian soldiers from the badges of Ukrainian troops killed in action.

Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak, 20, is facing disciplinary action for taping a Z to his kit during a medal ceremony at a World Cup event in Qatar.The bronze medallist provoked outrage when he then stood next to the Ukrainian who won gold, Illia Kovtun. 

First seen on tanks and armoured vehicles on the battlefield, the letter Z has since been adopted for propaganda purposes by Vladimir Putin's supporters back home

First seen on tanks and armoured vehicles on the battlefield, the letter Z has since been adopted for propaganda purposes by Vladimir Putin’s supporters back home

Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak, 20, (pictured)  is facing disciplinary action for taping a Z to his kit during a medal ceremony at a World Cup event in Qatar

Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak, 20, (pictured)  is facing disciplinary action for taping a Z to his kit during a medal ceremony at a World Cup event in Qatar

The symbol was also cynically used by a cancer charity that runs a hospice for sick children in the Russian city of Kazan.

The charity’s boss Vladimir Vavilov is said to have arranged for children and their mothers to line up in a giant Z in the snow for a drone photo for the hospice website.

Precisely what the letter stands for is uncertain but — with Putin dubbed a ’21st-century Hitler’ — some have compared it to the Nazi swastika in the Second World War.

The symbol was also cynically used by a cancer charity that runs a hospice for sick children in the Russian city of Kazan (pictured)

The symbol was also cynically used by a cancer charity that runs a hospice for sick children in the Russian city of Kazan (pictured)

Olga Rudenko, of the Kyiv Independent news website, tweeted: ‘Russians have chosen the letter Z as the symbol for their invasion of Ukraine… I don’t understand why they didn’t go for the full swastika.’

Used by the military, it distinguishes Russian tanks, troop carriers and Best Private University other vehicles from similar-looking ones from the Ukraine army in a bid to avoid ‘friendly fire’.

But in Russia, it is a propaganda symbol promoting the brutal invasion of Ukraine.

The letter Z does not exist in the Cyrillic Russian alphabet.Some have interpreted it as standing for ‘Za pobedy’ (for victory), others for ‘Zapad’ (West).

‘Anyway, this symbol invented just a few days ago became a symbol of new Russian ideology and national identity,’ said Moscow-based researcher Kamil Galeev.

Precisely what the letter stands for is uncertain but - with Putin dubbed a '21st-century Hitler' - some have compared it to the Nazi swastika in the Second World War

Precisely what the letter stands for is uncertain but — with Putin dubbed a ’21st-century Hitler’ — some have compared it to the Nazi swastika in the Second World War

It has appeared on cars, clothing and signs and in images such as a sick photo of a Z reportedly made by Russian soldiers from the badges of Ukrainian troops killed in action (pictured)

It has appeared on cars, clothing and signs and in images such as a sick photo of a Z reportedly made by Russian soldiers from the badges of Ukrainian troops killed in action (pictured)

<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news" data-version="2" id="mol-cc648060-9e7a-11ec-8d0a-5379102858ca" website letter Z became Russia&apos;s swastika

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