A video on Twitter got viral in which a Bulgarian citizen thanked the Local Police for not letting Ukrainians remove the Z symbol drawn outside the Ukrainian embassy in Bulgaria.
https://twitter.com/nameless_cynic/status/1678041497923403777?s=20
The individual claims that a few Ukrainians working in the embassy came out of the facility to remove the Z symbol drawn outside the embassy and were stopped by Bulgarian Police present in the region. He appreciated the Police for not letting the outsiders do whatever they wanted on Bulgarian soil.
In the video, the Bulgarian citizen showed the Z symbol drawn outside the Ukrainian embassy and said, “These people came out of Ukrainian embassy and wanted us to remove the Z symbol”.
“We want to thank Bulgarian Police who didn’t let them do this. They didn’t let someone from another country interfere in our affairs on the territory of Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Police defends our rights”.
Russian forces have used the Z symbol since they started the invasion in 2022 to identify the Russian military vehicles on the battlefield, as both countries have the same Soviet-era weapons in their arsenal. During the Battle of Kharkiv, locals used the “Z” symbol to identify and track Russian vehicles on Telegram.
The Z symbol is recognized as an act of aggression and supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That’s why displaying the Z symbol is prohibited in some European countries.
For Ukrainians, the Z symbol is quite offensive. They even banned using letters Z and V on vehicle license plates due to their usage of Russian tanks to show support for Russian invasions.
Now the Z symbol has seen less as compared to the early days of Russian invasion of Ukraine. The war has marked 502 days since February 24, 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently visited Bulgaria during his tour of Europe to collect support from NATO and European countries.
His visit to Sofia was not supported by Bulgarian citizens, and received criticism for waging war and not negotiating with Russia to restore peace. His motorcade was intercepted by a priest who pointed a crucifix towards his motorcade and said cursed words to the Ukrainian president.
Priest trying to stop Zelensky in Sofia, Bulgaria pic.twitter.com/b4EWp93wgi
— Russian Market (@runews) July 6, 2023