Russian Space Chief Shares Photo of Rocket Carrying Pro-War 'Z' Symbol

Russia's space program chief has shared an image of a rocket with what appears to be a Russian military symbol painted on the side.

On Thursday morning, Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency, shared a photo on Twitter of a section of the Angara A1.2 rocket model, emblazoned with a "Z" symbol.

"This is what the light-class Angara A1.2 looks like before being sent for flight design tests," Rogozin wrote, translated from Russian.

The "Z" symbol has become synonymous with Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine after observers noted that it was often showing up on the side of the country's military vehicles.

There has been much speculation about what the symbol might mean, particularly as there is no "Z" letter in Russia's Cyrillic alphabet—instead, a letter resembling the number 3 is used to represent the "Z" sound.

Some have posited that the symbol is a way for Russian military units to communicate with one another. Professor Michael Clarke, former director of the defense think tank RUSI, told Sky News last month: "Often these symbols will be location based—they will be communicating where a unit is heading."

Clarke said certain symbols could stand for certain destinations or directions, for example.

Kamil Galeev, an independent researcher and a journalist residing in Moscow, researches identity politics in post-Soviet Russia. In a series of tweets published earlier this month, he noted that for some, it could represent the word "zapad," meaning "west," or "za pobedy," meaning "for victory."

But he also noted that the symbol has been embraced as a pro-Russia emblem more generally, having made its way onto civilian cars and even t-shirts.

"Anyway, this symbol invented just a few days ago became a symbol of new Russian ideology and national identity," he wrote.

Rogozin is a staunch supporter of Putin's regime and of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Under his leadership, Roscosmos has become increasingly solitary, having dropped cooperation with other countries—including a halt of rocket engine sales to the U.S.

The Angara A1.2 rocket tweeted by Rogozin is part of the wider Angara rocket family—a series of space launch vehicles being developed by Russia, intended to replace aging space technology and modernize the country's rocket fleet.

Another Angara model, the Angara A5, was launched on December 27 last year. The launcher reached low Earth orbit but was unable to go as high as planned due to an upper-stage engine failure, according to Space.com, citing media reports.