The article compares the use of graphemes Z and V in written Russian Internet mass media of various genres: traditional (articles of Internet news portals and sites of regional governments), communicative (comments, messages, posts on social networks), marketing (names of brands, advertisements, event announcements, promotional posts) of two time periods, the watershed for which was the political event of February 24, 2022, which became known in the language under the name “military special operation in Ukraine”.