Kathrine Frich
Calling a major conflict by its true name comes with immediate domestic consequences.
Governments often use carefully chosen words to shape public perception during times of crisis.
When leaders want to downplay a major event, they usually invent a new phrase to soften the blow. But sometimes reality refuses to match the official script.
Playing with words
The Russian government has transformed its entire economy and mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops over the past five years.
Europe is currently witnessing its largest armed conflict since 1945. Yet, according to official paperwork in Moscow, the country is not actually at war.
Instead, Russian leadership insists on using a highly specific phrase. According to a report by United24 Media, the Kremlin continues to classify the massive invasion of Ukraine strictly as a “special military operation.”
This careful control over language mirrors a classic tactic to manage public thought. Changing the label allows the government to frame a massive global event as a temporary and highly contained project.
The strategy of wordplay started long before the full-scale attack. During the eight years leading up to 2022, Moscow avoided taking direct responsibility for the violence by blaming local “militias” and “volunteers,” U24 Media notes.
Preventing public panic
Calling a major conflict by its true name comes with immediate domestic consequences. Citizens instantly start worrying about military drafts, food shortages, and harsh travel restrictions.
By using the term “special military operation,” the government painted a picture of a clinical and professional task. The phrase suggested that everyday citizens could simply continue their normal lives while experts handled the problem far away.
This linguistic trick successfully bought the leadership precious time and kept the nation relatively calm. However, the absurd contradiction creates strange situations for ordinary citizens living under regular drone attacks.
Following recent strikes on Moscow in June 2026, local officials actually refused to share the locations of public bomb shelters. U24 Media reported that authorities claimed such safety information could only be released “in wartime.”
An unexpected timeline
Beyond simple public relations, some experts suspect the Kremlin originally believed its own positive spin. Planners in Moscow fully expected a rapid and decisive victory back in February 2022.
Russian leaders famously predicted that the Ukrainian capital would fall in just three days. They thought the so-called “Kyiv regime” would collapse almost instantly, U24 Media reports.
Years later, the quick operation has turned into an agonizing and endless grind. The official terminology remains unchanged, even as the reality on the ground tells a completely different story.
Sources: United24 Media
