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Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, thousands of images showing Russian soldiers and vehicles have emerged online. Some of these images shocked viewers when they saw the flag of the Soviet Union waving on some Russian military equipment. For residents of Ukraine, a former part of the Soviet Union, the flag may represent “an expression of a desire to repress them”, according to a post-Soviet politics specialist who spoke to the FRANCE 24 Observers team.
A red flag emblazoned with a gold hammer and sickle in the top left – the symbol of the communist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during its existence from 1922 to 1991. The Soviet union spanned Eurasia, made up of republics including current-day Russia, Ukraine and Belarus as well as other Eastern European and Central Asian countries.
Today, the flag is still used to represent communism and socialism. Most recently, it has appeared on at least four separate Russian military vehicles in videos of taken in Ukraine since the invasion began on February 24.
A T-72B3 tank with a roof screen, a “Z” marker, and a Soviet flag driving along the Dnieper.https://t.co/0j1961OoEw pic.twitter.com/rx26hsOX5l
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) February 25, 2022
A video posted on Twitter on February 25, 2022 shows a line of Russian military vehicles in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, identified by the white Z’s which are painted on Russian vehicles to distinguish them from Ukrainian equipment. One of them is brandishing a Soviet flag.
‘Soviet flags on vehicles should not be taken as an expression of a Russian policy of re-establishing Soviet power, but of…
Source : france24
