According to the linguist, no society is immune to the deliberate distortion of language. Vladimir Putin’s use of language in Russia is determined by the attempt to return to Soviet-era concepts.
KIOVA Language and words shape the perception of reality. The Russian language and vocabulary clearly display propaganda to build the public’s perception of reality.
The best-known roundabout is, of course, the “special military operation,” that is, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It comes from the same source as the names of the Winter War in Russia at the time – such as the “Finnish expedition of the Red Army”, the “expedition to freedom in Finland” or the “fight against Finnish aggression”.
In recent months, there have been other rhetoric in the Russian language that obscures the ugly truth about the war in Ukraine and gives the impression that not everything is so bad.
listed the most important circular expressions used in Russia.
Explosion – popping (хлопок)
Since 2018, the explosion has mostly popped in the Russian state media. This does not only apply to combat situations, but a gas explosion, for example, is a gas explosion.
Underlying this is a desire to soften the facts, as popping is a mere sound phenomenon that does not necessarily result in any destruction.
During the war, the word pop has been used extensively on the Russian side for explosions in the Belgorod and Kursk region.
Occupied Territories – Liberated Territory (Occupational Territory)
The Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories are called liberated in the Russian media, and officials are also talking about liberation and not conquest.
The parts of Ukraine held by Russia must not be said to be occupied because of the president Vladimir Putin has said Russia’s goal is not to occupy Ukraine.
Retreat of soldiers – reduction of military activity (сокращение военной активности)
When Russia had to retreat on the northern front at the turn of March-April, the Russians presented it as a gesture of goodwill.
Many circular expressions have been used about withdrawal, including de-escalation and planned regrouping. However, the most used term was the reduction of military activity in the direction of Kiev and Chernihiv.
Filtration camps, prison camps – evacuation camps (эвакуационные лагеря)
Many Russian media outlets during the war have reported that Ukrainian refugees traveling to Russia first arrive at evacuation camps.
In reality, it is either Ukrainians who have been forcibly displaced or who are going to the West via Russia, who are being screened in the Donbass region.
In these camps, individuals are interrogated, their backgrounds are thoroughly checked, and attempts are made to find those whom Russia considers Ukrainian nationalists. One way is to look at the tattoos on the body.
Censorship – information policy (information)
Since the Russian constitution, even in the version corrected by Putin, prohibits censorship, new, softer designations have had to be devised for the operation.
The most widely used are information policies, filtering out unwanted information, or protecting children from harmful information.
economic contraction – negative growth (отрицательный рост)
The war has damaged the Russian economy. According to the Kremlin’s official line, sanctions and other economic means of influence do not harm the country’s economy but strengthen it – and give an extra boost to innovation.
As a result, the Russian economy is not shrinking but is currently experiencing negative growth.
Collective redundancies – dismissal of workers (высвобождение работников)
When foreign companies began to withdraw from the Russian market in large numbers after the war began, Russian regional authorities came up with the term redundancies and layoffs.
Labor seems to be being made available to employers. The term has long been used mainly in the circles of HR experts, but during the war it has often softened the nasty truth about the labor situation in Russia.
Smuggling, illegal import – parallel import (параллельный импорт)
When many large foreign companies withdrew from the Russian market, the Russian leadership legalized so-called parallel imports.
Behind the term is import without the manufacturer’s permission, ie buying a product from unofficial resellers and importing it through unofficial routes, mostly from third countries.
Linguist: word choices are the exercise of power
Linguist Janne Saarikivi has long studied the use of different languages in Russia. According to him, it is characteristic of all political systems that things are embellished with different linguistic tricks.
– Language and word choices are the exercise of power. In war, for example, no one dies but there people fall. In a war, no one dies in vain or because of an incompetent officer, but everyone dies for the homeland, Saarikivi says.
– Such rhetoric is everywhere, including in the United States and Finland. That’s a common phenomenon, he continues.
In Russia, the language has traditionally served those in power. Saarikivi recalls that the forced relocations of entire nations were called evacuation in Russia as early as the Soviet era.
– The Ingrian Finns, the Chechens, the Volga Germans and even the Criminal Tatars were “evacuated”.
According to the linguist, Putin’s Russia borrows expressions directly from many totalitarian countries, but above all from the Soviet Union.
Saarikivi says that Soviet rhetoric also included aid.
– We went to Hungary, Czechoslovakia or Afghanistan because the friendly government had asked for help.
When Russia recognized the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk republics in February this year, an agreement on friendship, cooperation and assistance was immediately signed with them. With this agreement, Russia invaded the whole of Ukraine.
Saarikivi says that in Finland, circular expressions are used to try to divide responsibility for a decision into as many levels as possible. In Russia, on the other hand, responsibility is always transferred to a higher level.
– From the agency to the regional management and from the regional management to the ministry. And always, ultimately, everything leads to Putin as if Putin had decided everything in this hierarchy. But every sensible person understands that Putin can only decide on a fraction of things, Saarikivi says.
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