Latvia bans display of the letters “Z” and “V” because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The Baltic country’s parliament on Thursday voted to ban public displays of the letters, saying they were symbols used for glorifying the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russian military vehicles in Ukraine are prominently marked with the letters, and they have started appearing on social media and on clothing elsewhere in support of the war.
Latvia’s parliament said the display of the letters with intent to justify military aggression and war crimes would be punished under the new rules with fines of up to 350 euros ($388) for individuals and up to 2,900 euros ($3,214) for companies.
The small country between Lithuania and Estonia has less than 2 million people. More than a quarter of the population are Russians.
Latvian YouTuber Kirill Fedorov arrested in Latvia for merely analysing the Russia/Ukraine war. A story that reveals a lot about the West’s totalitarian tilt. #Westernvalues@RUSI_org needs to hire more competent propagandists. https://t.co/jzDMM2z8XE
— Rule .303 💙#NHS 🇪🇺🇬🇧🇱🇰🇩🇪🍺 (@303Rule) March 30, 2022
Recently, popular military vlogger Kirill Fedorov was arrested in Latvia for treason, puportedly for the pro-Russian slant of his videos. He is a Latvian citizen of Russian ancestry.
Popular military vlogger Kirill Fedorov arrested in Latvia for treason, apparently for the pro-Russian slant of his videos. https://t.co/EYnByq38AI
For comparison, Russian anti-war protesters residing in an actual combatant country get off with small fines. pic.twitter.com/e9Fb4QkyFB
— Anatoly Karlin (🅉,🅉) (@akarlin0) March 21, 2022