UGrandmother waving a Soviet flag has become the symbol of Russian propaganda. So much so that frescoes and statues of her have begun to flourish, especially near the Ukrainian border in Belgorod, or in a few villages near kyiv reports the Moscow Times. But who is this woman nicknamed “Babouchka Z”? “Babouchka” means “grandmother” in Russian and the “Z” is a direct reference to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This old lady rose to fame in April after she was filmed welcoming Ukrainian soldiers by waving a red flag, struck with a sickle, a hammer and a yellow star: the flag of the USSR.
“Babouchka Z” lives in northeastern Ukraine with her husband. When, in April, she saw soldiers arriving at her house, handing her a bag of food, she thought they belonged to the Russian army and began by thanking them. She also told them that she and her husband had “prayed for them, for Putin and for all the Russian people”.
“My parents died for this flag”
Then, the Ukrainian soldier took his flag and put it on the ground to trample it. The grandmother then realized that she had made a mistake and returned the shopping bag. ” I do not want it. My parents died for this flag and you are trampling on it, ”he can be heard saying on a video clip of the scene, filmed by a Ukrainian soldier present on the spot.
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The pro-Russian Ukrainian population and the pro-war Russians, convinced by the Kremlin’s rhetoric and convinced that the Russian invasion is intended to “liberate” Ukraine from the Nazis, quickly made “Babouchka Z” their heroine, using his image as proof that Russian speakers (Ukrainian side) are all behind Putin.
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