Touchpoints

As part of a quick lesson in СВРЯ, we’ll start with the neologisms Russians use to classify one another. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine hasn’t just intensified society’s polarization; it’s created a new landscape populated by “special military” categories of people. Let’s try to sort out who’s who.

If, for example, you see a young woman in the metro wearing a yellow t-shirt and blue jeans carrying a shopping bag emblazoned with the words “все всё понимáют” (everyone understands what’s going on), she’s probably a “нетвойни́стка” (no-to-war girl, based on the protest phrase нет войнé that burst onto social media after the invasion). If you want to be dismissive, you’d instead use “нетвойня́шка.” That’s the feminine form that supporters of the war – “завойни́сты” or “зéтники” – use for those who oppose it (the prefix за suggests “in favor of” and зет refers to the letter Z or zed, which has been appropriated as a prowar symbol). Нетвойни́сты (the masculine plural form) are often very active, holding antiwar signs and speaking out on social media, despite the risks. But they can also play it relatively safe, condemning the war only around the likeminded, or, in public, signaling their feelings very cautiously, through clothing, jewelry, or some other accessory with the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

You can identify the most fanatical завойни́сты – the ту́рбопатриоты – by the геóргиевские лéнточки (black-and-orange striped Saint George ribbons, a symbol dating back to the Order of Saint George, at one point one of the Russian Empire’s highest military decoration and a main symbol of “patriotism” since 2014) or merchandise displaying the letter Z. These turbo-charged “patriots,” seething with hatred for the enemy, might choose a more malicious name for opponents of the war: подсви́нки (a richly evocative blending of the prefix под, suggesting submissiveness or just being under something, and сви́нка or piggy). This neologism was coined by former Russian president and current deputy chair of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, who uses it for anyone he sees as kowtowing to the West. The erstwhile head of state’s Telegram channel oozes witrh venom:.