In the early hours of 27 July, unknown persons painted dozens of cars with a red Z symbol in Russia’s Voronezh, reports Telegram channel My and your Voronezh.
The channel claims that more than a hundred of cars were damaged.
The Voronezh region government confirmed, via their official Telegram channel, that unidentified persons painted several dozens of cars with a symbol of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and called what happened “a heinous provocation aimed at, first of all, discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”.
The message also says that the regional authorities “unconditionally and wholly support the president’s decision and the opinion of the majority of the Russian population on the necessity of the Special Military Operation and its goal”.
According to Russian news outlet RBC that cites the press service of the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs the police department has already received several complaints from local residents about their cars having been damaged, the department agents have started an investigation.
Back in April, Russian independent news outlet 7x7 correspondent Evgeny Malishev’s car and house gate got damaged: unidentified persons painted the letter Z on them and wrote “Here live supporters of the Ukrainian Nazis”.
In the middle of March, several activists and journalists saw the letter Z and writing in white paint appear on their front doors. In particular, the founder of the Telegram channel Protestny MSU Dmitry Ivanov, who is currently in the pre-trial detention centre on the “fake news” law charges (the new iteration of the so-called “fake news” law criminalises “public dissemination of false information” about the Russian army - translator’s note), had his front door damaged: unknown persons wrote “Don’t betray/sell your homeland, Dima” and painted three letters Z. Similar drawings appeared on the front doors of activist Olga Misik and Sota news outlet journalist Anna Loyko.
