At a hospice in Kazan, a city in Russia’s southwest Tatarstan region, children dying from cancer were asked to line up in a “Z” formation outside in the snow to show their support for the Russian military operation. As the Kremlin tightens its grip on any news of Russian casualties or setbacks making its way back home - enforcing an extraordinary new law that makes the spread of “fake” information an offense punishable with jail terms - Putin’s backers are ramping up their support for the war. “This symbol invented just a few days ago became a symbol of new Russian ideology and national identity,” Galeev added. “Authorities launched a propaganda campaign to gain popular support for their invasion of Ukraine and they’re getting lots of it,” Kamil Galeev, an independent researcher and former fellow at the Wilson Center, a non-partisan policy think tank in Washington, DC, wrote in a comprehensive Twitter thread on the use of the “Z” symbol in propaganda videos and by Russians on social media. Russians have daubed the “Z” on their cars, sported black hoodies emblazoned with the symbol, and fashioned makeshift “Z” brooches on lapels - a sign that there is some popular support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his efforts to expand Moscow’s sphere of influence by seizing parts of Ukraine. Here's how the letter became a pro-war symbol

Russian tanks emblazoned with 'Z' were first spotted on Ukraine's border. But in the days since Moscow ordered the bloody assault on Ukraine, what started as a mysterious military symbol has become a sign of popular support for the war in Russia, and what analysts describe as the unfurling of a chilling new nationalist movement. Russian defense policy expert Rob Lee, who has been tracking the “Z” vehicles since troops began massing on Ukraine’s doorstep, suggested the symbol might refer to military contingents assigned to the fight in the country. Aric Toler, a researcher with Bellingcat, an open source investigative operation that has been monitoring Russian military operations since Moscow fomented a war in eastern Ukraine eight years ago, said on February 20 that the group had no idea what the “Z” symbol meant and had not seen it used before. Military experts interpreted the “Z” as “Za pobedy,” Russian for “for victory,” or as “Zapad,” for “West. Digital sleuths speculated over what the “Z,” written in the Roman alphabet rather than Cyrillic, might indicate about Moscow’s next moves. CNN, STATE EMERGENCY SERVICES OF UKRAINE, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION OF UKRAINE, TELEGRAM In late February, days before Russian forces launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine, videos and photos began circulating on social media showing tanks, communications trucks and rocket launchers emblazoned with the letter “Z” rolling toward the border.

Russian tank force symbol