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ukraine·UkrainebyWilshire

In 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.

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

In 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://streamable.com/qvx266Open linkView original on lemmy.ca
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sh.itjust.works

I don't disagree with the sentiment, but Z is still a letter of the alphabet and should have a bit more leeway. What their true intention is, I don't know, but it is a lot harder to say for certain it was in bad taste.

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Wilshirereply
lemmy.ca

"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.

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Altoreply
kbin.social

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

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Skuareply
kbin.social

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

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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.

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

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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.

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