Ukrainian parliament prohibits use of Russian military symbols 'V' and 'Z' in the country

A day after Latvia's parliament approved a ban on displaying the Russian military 'Z' symbol, the Ukrainian Parliament has also passed a similar law on Friday. According to Ukraine's Servant of the People party, Parliament has adopted a law that prohibits the use of the symbols V and Z in the country. The party said that the Ukrainian lawmakers voted to restrict people from portraying symbols of military aggression and war crimes at public events.

It is worth mentioning that since the beginning of the "special military operation," Russian forces have been using the symbol "Z" in their military war equipment including on tanks, armoured personnel carriers and other military vehicles. Apart from Ukrainian forces, pro-Kremlin social media accounts have been using these symbols. Besides that, political experts and defence experts while appearing on talk shows, have been using the symbols on their dresses to showcase their support for the Russian military.

Significance of the symbols

Despite neither the "V" nor "Z" letter exists in the Russian alphabet, the Russian Defence Ministry has been actively using these symbols in connection with the war in Ukraine. Ever since the symbols became an icon of the war, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for a universal ban on the political use of the letter 'Z' following the invasion. Notably, Latvia's parliament has recently approved a ban on displaying the Russian military 'Z' symbol following its invasion of Ukraine. According to Euro News, Latvia had already banned symbols that promote or glorify Nazi or communist regimes, except where they are used for "educational, scientific or artistic purposes."

Russia-Ukraine war

Russia initiated a full-fledged war against Ukraine nearly two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognising the independence of breakaway regions Donetsk and Luhansk. Putin's action came despite the West's repetitive warning and speculations about his ill intention to invade Ukraine. On February 24, the Russian troops started a military operation against Ukraine. Since then, it has been bombarding several cities in Ukraine, resulting in the killing of thousands of civilians. On Friday, Zelenskyy appealed to his Russian counterpart to end the war immediately but added that he would not let the Russian forces take a single piece of Ukrainian land.

Image: AP