What Is With The Letter "Z" On All Russian Vehicles?

[Rich2018]

The Z sound in Russian is represented by the Cryllic letters Ж or 3.

The Romanized Z on tanks etc represents Russian nationalism.

It's a recognition symbol.

 

[bluesmoke]

They can't do that because Ukrainian also has a Cyrillic alphabet, including the B for V. It should have been one of the two Cyrillic letters that does not exist in Ukrainian.

OK. Then use from the Cyrillic/Russian/Ukraine alphabet the letter 'п', which is pronounced as a 'p' in English, instead of 'z'. The word for victory in Russian is 'победа' or, in English, 'pobezhdat'. My point being the use of 'z' does not so much reflect the letter as it is a symbol to represent "victory" or "victory in Ukraine". And, as said before, co-opted as symbolic of far-right Russian nationalism. Yes, there is a letter in Russian Cyrillic that represents a 'z' in English, but I can't see the logic in the letter being an alphabetical of victory, only symbolic. Other than that analysis, I've no other clue.

 

[Patriotic Voter]

It's a recognition symbol.

Why do they use that recognition symbol?

There are suggestions for Russian words starting with the Z sound, but that does not make sense because then their ships would have the Cyrillic Z letter.

 

[MaryP]

If pronouncing my B's as V's make me sound Russian, than soviet.

Good one!

 

[Grizzly Adams]

The Z sound in Russian is represented by the Cryllic letters Ж or 3.

Nyet, tovarish. ("No, comrade.")

The Ж letter sounds more like "zh," a vocalized companion to the "sh" sound of the letter Ш. The difference between Ш and Ж is basically the same as difference between S and Z (С and З in Russian) -- pushing air through your teeth vs. doing the same while vocalizing. It's the same principle here -- take a "sh" sound and add vocalization. It's pretty much the same as the pronunciation of the S in words like closure, decision, and usual.

 

[Rich2018]

Why do they use that recognition symbol?

There are suggestions for Russian words starting with the Z sound, but that does not make sense because then their ships would have the Cyrillic Z letter.

Because it's simple and easy to recognize.

Moreover because it's not part of the Russian or Ukrainian alphabets, it's unlikely that similar Ukrainian vehicles would have the same marking.

 

[StillBallin75]

SOFREP reported on this but didn't bother to source this information in the article, so there's no attribution. But here's what they say:

https://sofrep.com/news/what-do-those-letters-mean-on-russian-tanks-and-vehicles/

The Letter “V” represents the Russian Marines


The Letter “Z” represents units in the Eastern Military District


The Letter “Z” in a square represents the Southern Military District (Crimea)


The Letter “O” represents units from Belarus


The Letter “X” represents the forces of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Putin installed warlord of Russia’s Chechnya region.


The Letter “A” represents Russian Special Forces(SSO) like Spetznaz in its various operational units.

 

[Rich2018]

SOFREP reported on this but didn't bother to source this information in the article, so there's no attribution. But here's what they say:

https://sofrep.com/news/what-do-those-letters-mean-on-russian-tanks-and-vehicles/

The Letter “V” represents the Russian Marines


The Letter “Z” represents units in the Eastern Military District


The Letter “Z” in a square represents the Southern Military District (Crimea)


The Letter “O” represents units from Belarus


The Letter “X” represents the forces of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Putin installed warlord of Russia’s Chechnya region.


The Letter “A” represents Russian Special Forces(SSO) like Spetznaz in its various operational units.

Simple recognition symbols.