“Whosoever is publicly expressing their consent to the war of aggression of Russian President Putin must expect criminal prosecution,” Boris Pistorius, the interior minister of the state of Lower Saxony, said in a news release.
Last Friday, police in the state started to check whether the presentation of the “Z” was displayed in relation to the war in Ukraine.
The symbol “represents the acts of the Russian army against international law,” Pistorius said.
The state of Bavaria also warned sympathizers publicly using the Russian forces’ symbol “Z” would be in danger of being prosecuted, the Bavarian Minister of Justice Georg Eisenreich said in a news release.
Some background: Days before Russian forces launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine, videos and photos began circulating on social media showing tanks, communications trucks and rocket launchers emblazoned with the letter “Z” rolling toward the border. When the invasion began, what started as a mysterious military symbol has become a sign of popular support for the war in Russia, and what analysts describe as the unfurling of a chilling new nationalist movement.
Russians have daubed the “Z” on their cars, sported black hoodies emblazoned with the symbol, and fashioned makeshift “Z” brooches on lapels — a sign that there is some popular support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his efforts to expand Moscow’s sphere of influence by seizing parts of Ukraine.