Mar 1, 2022

Why Russian Tanks Have Mysterious White ‘Z’ Markings

The Russian invasion has given us a glimpse into Russian tanks and military.

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TODAY... We look at The Ukrainian War and Sister Girl Tuesday makes Peppermint Cupcakes

RUSSIAN INVASION

Every day that the war goes on, the tragedy goes on. The war has bordered on war crimes and I find myself checking the news every 15 minutes to see what Putin has done. Wating too much of the Ukraine war, I have seen the letter 'Z' pained on the Russian vehicles.

Since we have seen tons of vehicles with the letter Z, there are also different symbols in use. There are at least four different symbols in use. Besides the Latin letter 'Z', there is a triangle within a triangle symbol, a triangle with two lines on either side and a circle with three dots.

There is no definitive answer to what they mean, but most speculation is that the different symbols indicate where the vehicles are headed. We mainly see the letter 'Z', but that may be because of the coverage coming out of the capital, Kyiv, where most of the tanks with that symbol are located. If the symbol was only to specify that the tanks were Russian, then there would only be one symbol instead of four different symbols.

WHY
This is a low-tech way of identifying tanks and other vehicles. US military uses a radio-based ID system to identify vehicles. One of the reasons is to avoid attacking your tanks since the Ukrainian army uses the same tanks and helicopters as the Russian Army.

Looks like Russian tanks and helicopters do not have a radio ID system, so they are going with an old school system so they can tell their vehicles from the Ukrainian military.

HOPING FOR PEACE

As I write this, the Russian army has a large column of vehicles and troops on the outskirts of Kyiv. The Russians have not captured any major Ukrainian city. I hope the conflict ends peacefully, as all we can do is hope for a peaceful resolution.