3 ms·

The letter Z (pronounced like zed by some people) is used as a symbol of support for the war (a lot of Russian vehicles had a Z on them for some reason). Zed-tu

by sakras 4y ago

The letter Z (pronounced like zed by some people) is used as a symbol of support for the war (a lot of Russian vehicles had a Z on them for some reason). Zed-turbo-patrioting is then probably the act of being extremely patriotic and in support of the war

jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
Because Ukraine and Russia operate the same vehicles, friendly fire is an even greater danger than usual. Russia uses 3 different symbols on their vehicles depending which group they're from. Z is for the eastern front as I recall. Ukraine, for their part, likes to just paint a simple Ukrainian flag.
- int_19h 4y ago
  We don't know exactly what the letters originally meant, but the most likely theory is that Z is for "zapad" meaning "west", and V is for "vostok", meaning "east", and they correspond to the Russian west and east military districts. As for Ukrainian vehicles, they can be often seen adorned with white crosses in the more recent photos.
  - SauciestGNU 4y ago
    But why Latin Z and V and not З и В?
    - int_19h 4y ago
      Much easier to draw with a bucket of paint and a brush. Also easier to distinguish at a distance. A tongue-in-cheek joke in Russia is that these aren't actually Z and V, but rather Ꙁ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ze_(Cyrillic)#History_and_shape https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ze_(Cyrillic)#History_and_shap...) and Ѵ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izhitsa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izhitsa), both a part of the historical early Cyrillic alphabet, symbolizing the return to "tradition".
      - SauciestGNU 4y ago
        Thanks for the context, I'm a beginner in Russian and don't know much history of the language.
CoastalCoder 4y ago
The "Z" thing confused me for a while. I assumed it expressed support for Ukraine, because it's the first letter of their president's last name [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy
- LadyCailin 4y ago
  Or, “we’re coming for Z[elensky]”

by sakras 4y ago

jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago

Because Ukraine and Russia operate the same vehicles, friendly fire is an even greater danger than usual. Russia uses 3 different symbols on their vehicles depending which group they're from. Z is for the eastern front as I recall. Ukraine, for their part, likes to just paint a simple Ukrainian flag.

int_19h 4y ago
We don't know exactly what the letters originally meant, but the most likely theory is that Z is for "zapad" meaning "west", and V is for "vostok", meaning "east", and they correspond to the Russian west and east military districts. As for Ukrainian vehicles, they can be often seen adorned with white crosses in the more recent photos.
- SauciestGNU 4y ago
  But why Latin Z and V and not З и В?
  - int_19h 4y ago
    Much easier to draw with a bucket of paint and a brush. Also easier to distinguish at a distance. A tongue-in-cheek joke in Russia is that these aren't actually Z and V, but rather Ꙁ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ze_(Cyrillic)#History_and_shape https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ze_(Cyrillic)#History_and_shap...) and Ѵ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izhitsa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izhitsa), both a part of the historical early Cyrillic alphabet, symbolizing the return to "tradition".
    - SauciestGNU 4y ago
      Thanks for the context, I'm a beginner in Russian and don't know much history of the language.

CoastalCoder 4y ago

The "Z" thing confused me for a while. I assumed it expressed support for Ukraine, because it's the first letter of their president's last name [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy

LadyCailin 4y ago
Or, “we’re coming for Z[elensky]”