I've seen the symbol on Russian tanks involved in the invasion of Ukraine: sometimes enclosed in a square. You also get V and O apparently ( I haven't seen those)
The Z helps distinguish forces from one another and serves as an identifier to avoid friendly fire.
Russian officials have claimed various meanings for the symbol.
Due to its association with the war in Ukraine, the Z has become a militarist symbol in Russian propaganda and is used by Russian civilians to indicate support for the invasion.
Also adopted later by Russian far-right organizations. The symbol has subsequently been banned from public display in various countries, and its use has been criminalized by several European governments. Opponents of the war have pejoratively called the Z symbol a zwastika or zwaztika, derisively in Russian and Ukrainian as ziga in reference to Sieg Heil.
Thanks Wikipedia
This piece was written because as I finished the tune someone with the letter Z at the start of their name walked into the room. I just thought the Russian thing was interesting and more than a little scary.
