The action organized by the administration of the school in Gyumri reporting to Russia’s Defense Ministry took place earlier this week and involved children of both Russian and Armenian parents.
Gyumri, in the northwest of Armenia, hosts a Russian military base with some 3,000 servicemen. Children of these servicemen as well as other ethnic Armenian personnel of the base attend the local Russian school.
Some of the children aged 13 and 14 who took part in the action told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that they knew little about the ongoing war in Ukraine. Nor did they know anything about what letter Z stands for, they said.
From day one of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 the letter Z could be seen on Russian tanks, armored vehicles, trucks and other equipment deployed as part of the war effort as a distinct marking apparently to avoid friendly fire.
Analysts have speculated that along with other markings, including the letter V, it may denote, in Russian, the direction of the onslaught like in Zapad (West) or Vostok (East – letter V). Russia’s Ministry of Defense explained that those markings denoted “Za Pobedu” (“For Victory”). Whatever the signs mean, it is clear that the letter Z that was most frequently seen in footage during the first few days of the Russian aggression has become a pro-Russian symbol of the war used in many publicity stunts across Russia.
“They gathered us to form Z and made a video,” one of the children in Gyumri said.
The action took place in freezing temperatures in the schoolyard. Children said the school administration had also handed to them papers with the letter Z on them to hold during the action.
“They did not precisely explain to us what was it all about. They simply gathered us outside the school,” one of the action participants said.
School No. 19 in Gyumri is located in the military district near Russia’s 102nd military base and operates under the auspices of the Russian Defense Ministry.
An RFE/RL Armenian Service correspondent was not allowed to do video recording inside the two-story building of the school without the permission of the Russian Defense Ministry. For the same reason, the school administration categorically refused to comment on the action with the participation of the school’s students. However, some of the ethnic Armenian students agreed to talk on condition that they are not shown on video and that their voices are changed.
“We were all gathered. We have a person who organizes such things, such events in our school. That person gathered us all in the schoolyard and made a video. They gave to children papers with the letter Z written on them. The children were lined up for Z and the video was made,” one of the students said.
Another participant of that action added: “We were told to go outside in 10 minutes after the school bell rings. They made a video recording of [our lining up in Z] and we went back to the school building.”
Children also said that they had been told to line up in the yard by high school students who wore military uniforms. Asked whether they could refuse to participate in the action, one of the students said: “Only those attending elementary school could refuse and stay in the classrooms, because they are too small. But those attending between the fifth and eleventh grades were all taken outside.”
Levon Barseghian, chairman of the board of the Asparez Journalists’ Club in Gyumri, denounced the kind of publicity stunt involving children. He said that parents have a reason for concern because their children are being used for Russian propaganda purposes.
“That [Z] event shows that the Russian Federation will stop at nothing in its propaganda effort and that nothing is wrong for them. They use children to justify war. I think the parents of these children have something to think about,” Barseghian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Barseghian, a former member of Gyumri’s municipal assembly, said that he did not rule out that Russia may organize other similar propaganda events in Armenia. He urged the country’s authorities to take some steps to make sure such events are not associated with Armenia.
“I think that Armenian authorities should have some conversation with the commanders at the [Russian military] base to urge them to stay away from involving children in such things. If today they organize some marches, demonstrations in support of the aggressive war in front of the embassy, tomorrow they may start posting propaganda posters on cars, defending the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine. The traffic police must do something about it and the Armenian authorities in general must do something in this regard. You can’t just sit and wait for what will occur to those at the [Russian military] base. Go to your military unit and show your joy there. Don’t get the city involved in it, don’t get our country involved in your aggressive war,” Barseghian said.
A small pro-Moscow rally was organized in front of the Russian Embassy in Yerevan on Monday. About a week ago leaders of the Kremlin propaganda machine, including Russia Today’s ethnic Armenian editor-in-chief Margarita Simonian, posted a video on their social media showing a statue of Mother Armenia overlooking capital Yerevan with red lights at its foot forming the letter Z. The other symbol of the Russian invasion, the letter V, is also seen at the end of that video.
Days after the posting of the video it is still unclear who made it. Yerevan authorities said they have nothing to do with the action called “In Support of the Russian Military”. They said they know nothing about it and that the municipality did not give permission for holding such actions.
Despite hosting a Russian military base and being a member of the Russian-led defense alliance, Armenia has so far demonstrated a largely neutral position on the war in Ukraine.