Russian students have taken part in a patriotic flash mob in support of the Ukraine invasion as they chanted and saluted while wearing the Z war symbol.
The chilling footage which has disturbing echoes of the Nazi Youth under Adolf Hitler, shows the group from Kazan shouting in white overcoats with a black Z on the front.
They were chanting ‘Forward ‘ and ‘Russia for peace’ in a shopping mall at the same time as their country’s forces were shelling schools and hospitals in neighbouring Ukraine.
The chilling footage which has disturbing echoes of the Nazi Youth under Adolf Hitler, shows the group from Kazan shouting in white overcoats
Russian students have taken part in a patriotic flash mob in support of the Ukraine invasion as they chanted and saluted while wearing the Z war symbol
German journalist Julian Röpcke said the students were forced to take part in the rally could only be excused with an explanatory note.
The letter Z was first seen on tanks and armoured vehicles on the Ukraine battlefrield and has since been adopted for propaganda purposes by Vladimir Putin’s supporters back home.
It has appeared on cars, clothing and signs and Best Private University in images such as a sick photo of a Z reportedly made by Russian soldiers from the badges of Ukrainian troops killed in action.
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.
Sources said the students were forced to take part in the rally and could face expulsion if they refused to join in
The comparison will only be enhanced with the latest footage showing the brainwashing of the Russian youth and their salutes for their country under a symbol of war.
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 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).
The Kazan rally is the latest example of Putin’s propaganda campaign to convince Russians his savage invasion of Ukraine is a ‘special military operation’
Vladimir Vavilov, the chairman of a cancer charity that runs a hospice for unwell children in the city of Kazan, organised a pro-war stunt which saw patients line up in the shape of a letter ‘Z’
The insignia, which is Latin script, has become a symbol of the invasion after being seen on Russian tanks and military vehicles coming into Ukraine
The Kazan rally is the latest example of Putin’s propaganda campaign to convince Russians his savage invasion of Ukraine is a ‘special military operation’ to de-Nazify the country.
Earlier this week, children at a hospice were made to stand outside in the snow in the shape of the letter ‘Z’ to show support for Putin.
Vladimir Vavilov, the chairman of a cancer charity that runs a hospice for unwell children, organised the shocking pro-war stunt in Kazan, in the Tatarstan region.
Letter ‘Z’ merchandise has been sold by , the Kremlin-funded TV channel, while Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak is being investigated after he used white injury tape to create a ‘Z’ letter on his leotard.
Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak is being investigated after he used white injury tape to create a ‘Z’ letter on his leotard for the podium picture
Russian MP Maria Butina (second left), who was convicted in in the US in 2018 for acting as a foreign agent, posted a picture of her and colleagues in ‘Z’ t-shirts
Mr Vavilov said as they stood in the shape of the letter ‘Z’, patients held leaflets with the flags of Russia, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and Russian republic Tatarstan as they held their other hand in a fist.
He added: ‘Our patients and entire team took part in it, about 60 people in total.’
The stunt, which was posted on the hospice’s website, was photographed using a drone.
Gymnast Kuliak, 20, will be probed by the International Gymnastics Federation for his ‘shocking behaviour’ in displaying a symbol of support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during an event.
Kuliak finished third in the parallel bars final at the Apparatus World Cup in Doha over the weekend and displayed the letter ‘Z’ on the front of his outfit as he stood on the podium next to Ukrainian rival Illia Kovtun, who won the gold.
‘The International Gymnastics Federation confirms that it will ask the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation to open disciplinary proceedings against …Kuliak following his shocking behaviour at the Apparatus World Cup,’ the FIG said in a statement.