Russian pre-school children are dressed as tanks and soldiers for Victory Day

Victory Day is a major public holiday in Russia

This is hard to watch. Our hearts and minds have raced for the children of Ukraine in these last tumultuous months, but it's not lost on us either how this war must be affecting the children of Russia. What messages are being sent to them? And what aftermath will they be tasked with remedying in time? Today, footage has emerged of small children dressed as Russian tanks labelled with “Z” and pro-Russian military outfits as part of rehearsal for a parade to commemorate the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

Максимально €6@HyTbI€. А потом будут выть в тик-токе: "верните моего сына, хотя бы тело...". pic.twitter.com/B4dsk1ECQ8

— Aliev Eldar (@aliev_aliev) May 8, 2022

The letter “Z” lettering has become a mainstream propaganda symbol for the Kremlin. The letter, which doesn't exist in the Russian alphabet, was spotted being painted on Russian military vehicles weeks before the invasion of Ukraine in February and was meant to hype up support of the invasion from the Russian population.