Residents of Stavropol Territory report attack on cars with letter Z

Nine cars belonging to residents of the town of Ipatovo in the Stavropol Territory and marked with letter Z, a symbol of the special operation in Ukraine, were damaged by unknown culprits, a local resident has reported.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) explained that the Latin letter Z on Russian military equipment, which is engaged in the special operation in Ukraine, means "Za Pobedu" (For Victory). The letter V, which is also used to mark the military equipment, means "Strength in Truth" and "Mission Will Be Fulfilled", the "Lenta.ru" reported on March 3.

In Ipatovo, unknown persons are puncturing tires on the cars bearing the letter Z, Mikhail Shevchenko, a local farmer, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, adding that he knew nine such cases.

"At first [at the start of the special operation in Ukraine] there were single cases. Ipatovo is a small town where everyone knows each other. About a week ago, information was spread on the WhatsApp that incidents had become more frequent," Mr Shevchenko has added.

Valery Ledovskoy, the coordinator of the Centre for Civil Initiatives of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD), has suggested that this was a form of expressing by those who have relatives and friends in Ukraine.

"Perhaps, these are the people who have friends or relatives in Ukraine. [...] When it is impossible to protest safely and publicly, they are forced to express their attitude in this way," Mr Ledovskoy has suggested.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 16, 2022 at 01:57 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.