What is that Russian white Z symbol?

You may have seen the white Z symbol emblazoned on Russian tanks and various other places during the Russian occupation of Ukraine, and wondered what the hell it means.

Well, it's complicated. Or, at least, it's unclear. The first sightings were on Russian tanks in the very early days of the invasion, and it was conjectured that it was so that the Russians could distinguish their own tanks from Ukraine's (similar, Soviet era) tanks, kind of like putting a ping pong ball on a car antenna. Other tanks, however, showed O, X, A and V, so some have suggested hat the Z stands for Zapad ("West"), or possibly Za pobedy ("victory"). But why use Roman letters, not Cyrillic?

Since then, the white Z has been showing up everywhere in Russia, as a nationalist, pro-Putin, pro-war symbol (some are calling it a "modern day swastika"). It has appeared painted on apartment blocks, as a huge neon sign in St. Petersburg, on street signs, bus shelters and cars, on funeral parlours and hospices. It has been adopted by Russian internet influencers, competitive gymnasts and pro-Putin MPs, and paraded around by t-shirted flash-mobs.

And yet, it's still not clear what it really means, and whether it has been deliberately fomented by the Putin administration or developed spontaneously. Maybe it means nothing at all, a reflection of the vacuous logic of the whole invasion.