On September 9-10,2023, Georgian– and Russian-language Facebook accounts published a video depicting the movement of military vehicles with the flag of Azerbaijan. According to the posts, the vehicles are headed in the direction of Armenia, and it is noteworthy that they feature the letter “Z.” One of the Russian-language Facebook accounts specifies that this video was taken on the day the post was published (September 10, 2023).
The disseminated posts are misleading. The letters featured on Azerbaijani military equipment have no ideological significance. According to the local expert, these signs only denote the first letter of the name of the group. In addition, it should be noted that the video does not depict current events, and it was released in September 2022.
The circulating videos create the impression that the letter Z depicted on the vehicles is associated with the Russian army. The letter Z has been used frequently on Russian military equipment and uniforms or buildings since the invasion of Ukraine and represents a pro-war symbol.
“Myth Detector” contacted the Azerbaijani fact-checking organization Fakt Yoxla regarding the mentioned issue. According to the information provided by them, the video is authentic, although it is not recent and was posted on Twitter in September 2022. Notably, other photos and videos can also be found on social networks, where Azerbaijani military equipment features other Latin letters.
Adalət Verdiyev, a military expert, commented on the issue to the Azerbaijani media (1, 2). According to his explanation, the military forces of Azerbaijan conduct operations both on the ground and in the air. As a result, to ensure security, the first letters of the military units were placed on the equipment to easily identify them. In addition, in order to distinguish them from ordinary letters, the marks on the equipment have an additional line in the middle.
Accordingly, the claim that the letter Z depicted on the Azerbaijani military equipment has any connection with the Russian symbols of war propaganda is not confirmed by evidence.
At the beginning of September 2023, the Prime Minister of Armenia accused Azerbaijan of mobilizing military forces near the outskirts of Karabakh and the common border, and in response, Azerbaijan stated that they are undergoing planned military exercises and, therefore, there is nothing suspicious in their behavior. At the same time, Azerbaijan itself accused Armenia of mobilizing forces and acquiring new military weapons. In addition, on September 11, joint military exercises with the United States of America began in Armenia; however, despite everything, a direct military confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan has not yet occurred.
About the Source:
Lawyer Irakli Zakareishvili – the Georgian language user who disseminated the claim – often spreads fake and manipulative information on Facebook. The false claims published by the user have been debunked by “Myth Detector” a number of times in the past.
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