Language of War

The drawn out conflict in Ukraine has seen as much fighting on the pages of magazines and internet forums as on the ground in the east of the country, where the Ukrainian army is trying to drive out pro-Russian militants who support independence.

The linguistic sparring that pits “vatnik” pro-Russians against “Banderites” (supporters of the revolution in Kiev) has been going on since Moscow took the Crimean peninsula this spring, and the lexicon of antagonism only continues to grow.

Vatnik – the name of a quilted jacket worn by Russian prisoners in winter. “Vatnik” and “vata” (cotton) have come to be used by those opposing Putin in Russia and by Ukrainians as a name for the silent masses who have passively supported Russia’s policies in Crimea and Ukraine.

Kolorad – the Colorado potato beetle, an agricultural pest well known among Eastern European gardeners, who often have to pick the beetles off their potato plants. The bug’s color is similar to the orange-and-black ribbon used to symbolize Russian and Soviet valor since the eighteenth century, when the Order of St. George was established, and as a general patriotic symbol worn by many pro-Russian militants in Ukraine. During the course of the Ukrainian conflict, the term has come to be used dismissively for patriotic Russians.

Junta – from the Spanish term for “meeting or committee,” used internationally to mean a government led by a group of military leaders. It is being used widely by Russian officials and Ukrainian separatists to refer to the new authorities in Kiev, whom Moscow believes were installed through a coup bankrolled by the United States. In addition, the Ukrainian government is also being called a “Bandera junta,” while those fighting for it are “Banderites,” which derives from the name of the Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera, who fought for Ukrainian independence, including by allying himself with Nazi Germany during World War II. The Bandera legacy has also caused Moscow to classify most Ukrainians with nationalist views as “neo-Nazi” and “neo-Fascist.”

Ukra, ukrop – a dismissive term used by insurgents in eastern Ukraine for Ukrainian soldiers. “Ukrop” (which means “dill” in Russian) is a singular soldier fighting against the separatists, while “ukra” is a collective term for the Ukrainian army.

Terrorists – the term Kiev uses to describe insurgents in eastern Ukraine, against which the Ukrainian army has launched an “anti-
terrorist operation.” Some Ukrainians who believe most of those fighting are Russians also use the term “occupants.” The insurgents meanwhile call themselves the “people’s
militia” ( opolchenie) and accuse Kiev of engaging in a “punitive operation”
( karatelnaya operatsia) against them.

Novorossia – a term recently resurrected by President Putin to describe southeastern Ukraine, including not only the secessionist Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but also Kharkiv, Odessa, Mariupol and others. The term first came into use when the Russian empire won these areas from the Ottoman Empire in the eighteenth century. The territories became part of Soviet Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, and the term was hardly ever used in the Soviet era. Today the red and blue flag of Novorossia used by insurgents in Ukraine, curiously, is strikingly similar to the Confederate flag of the United States.

fastest laws in the world, urah!

The Russian parliament has been passing laws so quickly this year that the average bill has been discussed for only four minutes. Some of the laws have been ridiculed as poorly thought out and bordering on the absurd. Can you guess which initiatives were enacted and which ones were only proposed?

1. Tax Vacationing Russians

Russian senator Nikolai Zhuravlyov proposes responding to Western sanctions with an official policy discouraging foreign tourism. Under the provision, Russian tourists, who have come to represent a sizable share of the tourism business for EU countries like Greece and Spain, would be charged a special tax if they vacationed outside Russia, rather than on the Black Sea beaches in Crimea and Krasnodar.

2. Olympian Casinos

A new law would make it possible for private investors in Olympic venues and hotels to use them as gambling zones. Casinos are banned everywhere in Russia except specially designated geographic areas, but the law would make it possible to open them in Sochi’s Olympic park, where Russia hosted the Winter Games in February, but which is now struggling to attract visitors.

3. Retweet Your Way to Jail

A new amendment to Russia’s law against extremism would toughen punishment for disseminating messages the government considers “extremist.” Such acts of self expression could lead to a sentence of five years in prison and even include “liking” or retweeting something considered offensive. The amendment targets people like a blogger in Barnaul who reposted a photograph of a bullet with the caption, “this is the only argument that works for the authorities.”

4. Treat Your Parents Well

Russian lawmaker Oleg Mikheyev proposes the imposition of fines on adults who neglect retired parents in need of help.

KEY: 1. Proposed but not passed. 2. Passed. 3. Passed (the Barnaul blogger is being investigated). 4. Proposed but not passed.

SOURCES – Cities: Gradoteka.ru. Television: Public Opinion Foundation.

Ukraine: VTsIOM (All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Research).