Russians show loyalty to Putin by getting branded with hot 'Z' poker

Fanatical Russian demonstrates his undying loyalty to Vladimir Putin and his war against Ukraine by getting himself branded with a red hot ‘Z’ poker

• Video shows shirtless man being branded with controversial Z symbol on chest
• Symbol has been used by Russians to show support for Putin’s Ukraine invasion
• It has been compared to the Nazi’s swastika due to Russia’s barbaric acts of war 

Russians are showing their support for Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine by branding themselves with the ‘Z’ symbol using a red hot poker.

Nexta, a Belarusian media outlet, shared a video on their official Twitter account which featured a shirtless man being branded on his chest. 

The letter ‘Z’ has become a sinister symbol marking support for Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine with comparisons to the Nazi’s swastika.

Pictured: Russians are showing their support for their president Vladimir Putin and his brutal invasion of Ukraine by branding themselves with the controversial ‘Z’ symbol using a hot poker

First seen on tanks and armoured vehicles on the battlefield, the letter Z has since been adopted for propaganda purposes by Vladimir Putin’s supporters back home.

It has appeared on cars, clothing and signs and in images such as a sick photo of a Z reportedly made by Russian soldiers from the badges of Ukrainian troops killed in action.

In the video, the shitless man is leaning back against a piece of scrap metal in what looks like a shed full of junk.

The man has his eyes closed and is gripping his crossed legs while the poker with the Z symbol is heated up off camera.

The man off camera who is brandishing the poker then places it on the left side of the Russian’s chest and an audible burning noise can be heard.

The branded man flinches as smoke or steam fumes from the contact before the cameraman looks away.

Video shows the man being branded flinches as smoke or steam fumes from the contact

When he comes back into frame, the newly-branded man keenly tries to look at the damage that has been done.

He then stands up and begins yelling in Russian with one arm raised. 

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Russians have adopted the Z symbol in a bid to throw their support behind their President’s brutal invasion.

The letter first appeared on tanks during the early stages of the invasion back in February but has since become a prevalent image of Russians backing Putin’s campaign.

Just this week, a horrific video appeared to show the castration of a Ukrainian soldier by Russian troops wearing patches that featured the Z icon.

The sickening footage in question, which MailOnline is not publishing, shows a group of men wearing Russian camouflage pinning a soldier in Ukrainian fatigues down and using a box-cutting knife to remove his genitals and then hold them up to the camera. 

Pictured: After being branded, the man stands up and raises his fist as he shouts in Russian

Other videos showed Russian troops taunting him and appearing to make a telephone call to his wife. Late last night, a video emerged showing the soldier being shot in the head before his body was dragged through the streets on a rope. 

It is unclear exactly when or where the footage was taken, but the perpetrators were seen in the state media report in June. 

The sickening act, which was shared on Russian social media, was confirmed as genuine last night by Aric Toler of open source investigators Bellingcat, who have uncovered a number of crimes committed by the Russian state.

How letter Z became Russia’s swastika: First seen on tanks invading Ukraine, last letter of alphabet has now been adopted for pro-Putin propaganda

• Letter Z has been used for propaganda purposes by Putin’s supporters in Russia
• Has appeared on cars, clothing and signs and in images made by Russian troops
• And Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak facing disciplinary action for taping Z to kit
• Some have compared the ‘Z’ to a swastika, dubbing Putin a ’21st century Hitler’

It has become a sinister symbol marking support for Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine.

First seen on tanks and armoured vehicles on the battlefield, the letter Z has since been adopted for propaganda purposes by Vladimir Putin’s supporters back home.

It has appeared on cars, clothing and signs and in images such as a sick photo of a Z reportedly made by Russian soldiers from the badges of Ukrainian troops killed in action.

Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak, 20, is facing disciplinary action for taping a Z to his kit during a medal ceremony at a World Cup event in Qatar. The bronze medallist provoked outrage when he then stood next to the Ukrainian who won gold, Illia Kovtun. 

First seen on tanks and armoured vehicles on the battlefield, the letter Z has since been adopted for propaganda purposes by Vladimir Putin’s supporters back home

The symbol was also cynically used by a cancer charity that runs a hospice for sick children in the Russian city of Kazan.

The charity’s boss Vladimir Vavilov is said to have arranged for children and their mothers to line up in a giant Z in the snow for a drone photo for the hospice website.

Precisely what the letter stands for is uncertain but – with Putin dubbed a ’21st-century Hitler’ – some have compared it to the Nazi swastika in the Second World War.

Olga Rudenko, of the Kyiv Independent news website, tweeted: ‘Russians have chosen the letter Z as the symbol for their invasion of Ukraine… I don’t understand why they didn’t go for the full swastika.’ 

Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak, 20, (pictured)  is facing disciplinary action for taping a Z to his kit during a medal ceremony at a World Cup event in Qatar

The symbol was also cynically used by a cancer charity that runs a hospice for sick children in the Russian city of Kazan (pictured)

Used by the military, it distinguishes Russian tanks, troop carriers and other vehicles from similar-looking ones from the Ukraine army in a bid to avoid ‘friendly fire’.

But in Russia, it is a propaganda symbol promoting the brutal invasion of Ukraine.

The letter Z does not exist in the Cyrillic Russian alphabet. Some have interpreted it as standing for ‘Za pobedy’ (for victory), others for ‘Zapad’ (West).

‘Anyway, this symbol invented just a few days ago became a symbol of new Russian ideology and national identity,’ said Moscow-based researcher Kamil Galeev.

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