To name the war

 The ongoing war in Ukraine is defined by the Russian government as SMO – special military operation, a term launched by Vladimir Putin in February 2022 in connection with the invasion. This article examines why the Russian government and official Russian mass media consistently employ this euphemistic designation and what underlying messages are conveyed through it. Based on a close examination of 370 articles published on the official website of the Russian president (Kremlin.ru) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (mid.ru) during two periods – February 24 to March 31, 2022, and July 1 to August 31, 2023 – the study shows that the term serves several communicative functions.

It frames the conflict as a limited, goal-oriented military action rather than a large-scale war, emphasizes the professionalism and restricted scope of Russian military involvement, and symbolically denies the legitimacy of Ukraine as a state by presenting the adversary as a non-state actor. In this way, the term contributes to discursively distancing the Russian public from the realities of war while reinforcing the official narrative of the conflict. 

Специальная военная операция (Special military operation) is an official term used by the Russian government and in Russian pro-government mass media to signify the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is also the only way allowed by the Russian government to refer to the war against Ukraine. This concept was launched in Putin's speech on 24 February 2022 and soon became a linguistic marker identifying war supporters in Russia.

During the first months of the war, the term was used together with several expressions specifying either the geographical area of the operation or its purpose. The following designations were used in official discourse:

• специальная военная операция по защите гражданского населения Донбасса (special military operation for the protection of the civilian population of Donbass)
• специальная военная операция по защите мирного населения Донбасса (special military operation for the protection of the peaceful population of Donbass)
• специальная операция по оказанию помощи народным республикам Донбасса (special operation to assist the people's republics of Donbass)
• спецоперация по защите Донбасса (special operation for the defense of Donbass)
• специальная военная операция по защите ДНР и ЛНР (special military operation for the protection of the DPR and LPR)
• специальная военная операция по защите населения Донбасса (special military operation for the protection of the population of Donbass)
• специальная военная операция России по защите Донбасса (special military operation of Russia for the protection of Donbass)
• специальная операция по защите республик Донбасса (special operation for the protection of the republics of Donbass)
• специальная военная операция на Украине (special military operation in Ukraine)
• специальная операция Вооружённых Сил России на Украине (special operation of the Armed Forces of Russia in Ukraine)
• специальная военная операция на территории Донбасса и Украины (special military operation in the territory of Donbass and Ukraine)
• специальная военная операция по демилитаризации и денацификации Украины (special military operation for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine)

Despite this rich variation, the use of the designation soon stabilized, and in the future, it was almost exclusively referred to as специальная военная операция (special military operation), or abbreviated as СВО.

At almost the same time when the concept of special military operation was launched, became the usage of the word война (war) to describe the ongoing invasion of Ukraine criminalized. According to Russian federal law № 32-ФЗ, known internationally as the Russian 2022 War Censorship Law and domestically as the Fake News Law (Закон о фейках), Russian courts have recognized any use of the word war applied to Russia's actions in Ukraine as fake and as “discrediting the army”, and have rendered guilty verdicts in accordance with it. However, the usage of this word instead of the official term special military operation became the prerogative of anti-war activists in Russia.

From the above, it is clear that the Russian government attaches great importance to ensuring that only the correct terminology is used by the mass media when reporting on the war in Ukraine. To understand the logic behind this strategy, it is necessary to analyze the linguistic significance of the phrase специальная военная операция (special military operation) and compare it with the term война (war).

According to Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary, специальная (special) means designed for specific purposes or tasks (Ожегов 1990: 753), военная (military) relates to war or the armed forces (ibid., s. 94), adjective from war (Ушаков 2014: 67), and операция (operation) refers to a coordinated military actions of diverse forces united by a common purpose (Ожегов 1990: 452), series of sequential, purposeful actions aimed at a single goal (Ушаков 2014: 399) or according to The Great Academic Dictionary of the Russian Language coordinated combat operations, subordinate to a single strategic plan, one goal, one task. (Герд 2009: 736). Therefore, a специальная военная операция is a series of sequential and purposeful military actions intended to achieve specific goals. The Military Encyclopedia defines a special operation as operations conducted by the armed forces with limited objectives, distinct from large-scale military campaigns or wars.

At the same time, the term война (war) is defined by Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary as an organized armed struggle between states, nations, or between classes within a state (Ожегов 1990: 97). Ushakov defines the war almost identical, as an armed struggle between states or social classes (Ушаков 2014: 679). The Great Academic Dictionary of the Russian Language describes war as an armed struggle between tribes, peoples, states or social classes within a state (Горбачевич 2005: 84).

As can be seen from the above, the phrase специальная военная операция and the term война have several key differences. In terms of scale, a специальная военная операция involves limited actions aimed at achieving specific goals, not necessarily involving large-scale combat operations whereas война is a large-scale conflict involving extensive use of armed forces and significant human and material losses. Regarding objectives, war often has broad strategic objectives such as regime change, territorial conquests, or major political changes. In contrast, a special military operation usually has narrow, specific objectives like rescuing hostages, eliminating terrorist groups, or carrying out peacekeeping missions. In terms of duration, a special military operation is typically time-limited, focused on the quick realization of set tasks, while a war can last from several months to many years. Lastly, in terms of intensity, a special military operation may be less intense, utilizing special forces and techniques to minimize direct confrontation, whereas war involves intense combat actions with mass deployment of armed forces.

It should be mentioned separately that in the designation специальная военная операция, the adjective специальная (special) is used in a military context similar to the designation of the Спецназ / Силы специального назначения (Russian Special Forces). These elite military units possess special capabilities, have specialized equipment, and consist of specially trained and selected professional soldiers. Спецназ is composed of small units and is deployed by military leadership for tasks that regular units cannot handle. By using the adjective специальная, it emphasizes not only the purportedly localized, non-comprehensive scale of the hostilities but also the professionalism and limited number of Russian military personnel involved (special forces, by definition, cannot be large in number). Instead, the war as such is characterized by large-scale military activities and requires large units that are supplemented, and due to inevitable human losses, are filled constantly with large numbers of non-professional mobilized soldiers.

In this manner, by employing the neutral, non-emotionally charged concept of operation, war appears as a distant phenomenon, stripped of its terrifying features, and portrayed as something detached from the everyday concerns of the common man. Simultaneously, the use of military terminology and jargon positions war as an endeavor undertaken by a limited and highly professional military force. This type of describing relegates war to the realm of virtual reality, further distancing it from the common man's reality. This discourse, aimed at helping the common man to dissociate from the realities of war, constructs an imaginary safe haven for him, perpetuating the ongoing process of societal atomization. Consequently, this disconnection from the realities of war fosters citizen apathy towards both domestic and foreign policies of the state.

In addition, there is another reason why it is very important for the Russian government to describe the war in Ukraine as a special military operation. As we have seen above, the term war is used to define large-scale conflict, usually between states or coalitions of states, characterized by the use of armed forces and significant human and material losses. In the Russian and Ukrainian context, the term operation is used to define small-scale military actions, often conducted on the country's own territory against asymmetrical adversaries. The контротеррористическая операция / KTO (counter-terrorism operation 1999 - 2009) and антитеррористическая операция / ATO (anti-terrorism operation 2014 - 2022) that Russia and Ukraine, respectively, conducted against Chechen rebels and pro-Russian separatists are prime examples of the usage of these terms. Thus, a military operation is conducted against a state and affects its population, while an operation is conducted against a group, mainly a terrorist one. By using the term military operation, the adversary of the Russian armed forces are positioned as terrorist groups, thereby denying the very idea of Ukrainian statehood.

According to the logic above, the only way for the Kremlin to begin calling the ongoing conflict in Ukraine by its proper name, war, is to place it in a larger context. This context would frame the conflict as a war waged by the Collective West against Russia, using Ukraine as a battleground - a kind of clash of civilizations. In this narrative, the godless West, often referred to as Anglo-Saxon, seeks to destroy and obliterate Holy Russia, which acts as a Katechon - a historical entity, a state with the mission to prevent the ultimate triumph of evil in history, the coming of the Antichrist, and to delay the end of the world. Thus, the day when the Kremlin officially defines the ongoing conflict as a war, rather than a special military operation, will mark the beginning of the final battle between good and evil and in this battle, all types of funds, including nuclear weapons, will be permitted.

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