The International Gymnastics Federation demanded that “a disciplinary process be opened against Kuliak for his disruptive behavior.” Kuliak responded to the Russian media that he would do “the same thing” again: “I wanted to show my position. As an athlete, I always fight for victory and I will act for peace.”
Local media published a photo taken from above in which some 60 sick minors and their caregivers form a “Z” in the courtyard of a hospital in Kazan (in the southwest).
Roskomnadzor, the Russian media regulator, wrote its name on Telegram with a capital “Z”: “RoskomnadZor.”
Russia: Protests, silence and uncertainty
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Police detain women taking part in a protest against the invasion of Ukraine, in central Moscow.
Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP
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Police officers block access to Red Square in Moscow, preventing it from being occupied by protesters.
Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP
Planes are parked at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow
Several planes of Aeroflot and Rossiya airlines are parked at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia.
Marina Lystseva/Reuters
Passengers are seen at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow
At Sheremetyevo Airport, passengers wait for an available flight, after Russia closed its airspace to 36 countries in response to Western-imposed sanctions.
Reuters
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Police detain a man who is taking part in a protest against the invasion of Ukraine, in central Moscow.
Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP
In many Russian regions (even in the most isolated ones) the expressions of support for the operation in Ukraine are multiplying, with messages such as “We will not abandon our own”, choirs of women who wear the “Z” on their chest, taxis with the “Z” painted on the window and cars parked in a “Z” shape.
A resident of Donetsk, a pro-Russian separatist city in eastern Ukraine, posted on her Instagram a photo of her fingernails painted with a white “Z” on a black background.
In Barnul (south-central Russia) they unfurled a huge “Z” in the snow, with the colors of the Saint George ribbon, orange and red, a Russian military symbol.
There are also those who smelled the commercial opportunity and T-shirts with the “Z” are already being sold online.
On the other hand, opponents of the military intervention have a harder time displaying their symbols in public space, even when there are small demonstrations every day (despite being prohibited).
The walls of Moscow appear from time to time covered with messages of peace, but it does not take long for them to be erased.
With information from AFP and EFE