According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, the "Z" symbol means "for the victory".[1][3] Some military experts have hypothesized that the symbols are identifying marks used to reduce friendly fire, and have compared the symbols to invasion stripes used in the Normandy landings during World War II.[11][12] Other military experts have predicted that the symbols are used to help distinguish different task forces from one another, with former Royal United Services Institute director Michael Clarke saying that "often these symbols will be location-based: they will communicate where the unit is going" and pointing to the American military's use of chevrons during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[13]