Why West, NATO countries worry about Russian ’ Z’ symbol rising  popularity

Anybody displaying the symbol ‘Z’ is liable to prosecution in Germany and other NATO countries.

In the lead-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military branded its hardware with “Z” as tanks and armored military vehicles rolled towards Ukraine.

The symbol has now become something of a rallying pot for President Vladimir Putin’s supporters and other nationalist movements.

“Whosoever is publicly expressing their consent to the war of aggression of Russian President Putin must expect criminal prosecution,” Boris Pistorius, the interior minister of the state of Lower Saxony, said in a news release.

Police in the state have started checking whether display of “Z” is in relation to the war in Ukraine.

The symbol “represents the acts of the Russian army against international law,” Pistorius said.

The state of Bavaria also warned sympathizers publicly using the Russian forces’ symbol “Z” would be in danger of being prosecuted, the Bavarian Minister of Justice Georg Eisenreich said in a news release.