that it stands for za pobedu, meaning for the victory in russian. the russian defence ministry has implied this on their social media, and others say that it stands for zelensky, a key target of the war. defence experts have called it wall marketing or tribalism, a symbol that doesn't exist in the russian alphabet being used to show loyalty. russian gymnast ivan kuliak is in trouble after taking the z symbol onto his top during a ceremony, after he was beaten by a ukrainian. former olympian has been criticised after sharing the letter on her instagram. and social media users have condemned the photo of ill children in a hospice in kazan, standing outside in the snow to form a z. in some areas of the russian offensive, the v is being used, seen here on the official instagram some think that it means vostok, meaning east, others think that it means "power of truth". stephanie prentice, bbc news.