Russian propagandists continue to elude responsibility by using different phrases to define the war that Russia unleashed in Ukraine. Very often, the use of the official wording “special military operation” can get the audience tired. Therefore, a more informal construction is the “Ukrainian crisis”.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for the ninth year. The situation of war is a moment of crisis for the whole country, a test of strength. This crisis, however, has a well-defined name: a war. Russia has launched aggressive military actions against Ukraine. This, as well as the crimes of the Russian armed forces against civilians, at least fall under the definition of “crime of aggression” under international law. Accordingly, in the future there is every reason to hold Russia accountable not for the crisis, but for the start of a targeted war.

Using this phrase, Russia is trying to show that the war against Ukraine is a temporary phenomenon. The term “Ukrainian crisis” is also being used to play along with the “blitzkrieg” message that the Russian government promised its citizens in the event of an attack on Ukraine. In addition, in this way, propagandists are trying to reduce the degree of the tragedy of the situation. Like, there is nothing serious, just a small “crisis” that can be easily resolved by negotiations and big concessions towards Russia. Additionally, Russian propaganda with the help of this phrase is again trying to shift the responsibility for the crimes of the aggressor onto the victim of aggression.

This is a new text for the “Newspeak” section, which Detector Media launched as part of the “Disinformation Chronicles” project. In it, we tell and explain new lexemes that Russian propaganda uses to distort reality.