Moscow

Ultimately from Old East Slavic Москов- (Moskov-), originally referring to the Moskva River, probably from Proto-Slavic *mosky (“swamp, dampness, moisture”). Perhaps related to Czech moskva (“raw bread”), Slovak mozga (“puddle”), Polish Mozgawa, and more distantly Latvian mazgāt (“to wash, rinse”), Sanskrit मज्जति (májjati, “to sink”), Latin mergō (“to dive”), all from Proto-Indo-European *mesg- (“to plunge, dip”). Cognate with Russian промозглый (promozglyj, “dank”).

der

Moscow doubtless wants to make trouble for the Western Powers so far as she can without losing their recognition or encouraging actual hostility. She wants peace and trade and an opportunity for internal economic reconstruction above everything just now. It seems doubtful whether she expects to Bolshevize China, though she wants China fully independent of Western imperialism and friendly to her.

1927 May, Quincy Wright, “Bolshevist Influences in China”, in Current History, volume XXVI, number 2, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 302, column 2:

I could not agree with the tactics or approach of those who, like Chiang Kai-shek in a speech on July 3, 1950, wanted the U.N. to charge the Russians with the full responsibility for this Korean conflict and to demand that Moscow put an end to it. This kind of bluster is certain to lead into an impossible dilemma. If these suggestions had been followed and the Soviets had ignored the order, as in all likelihood they would have done, either the United Nations would have stood convicted of weakness or World War III would have been on.

1956, Harry S. Truman, Memoirs of Harry S. Truman: Years of Trial And Hope, volume II, Doubleday & Company, →OCLC, pages 345–346:

The translation of Khrushchev's letter reached me later that day, and I read it with care and with growing disappointment. It seemed designed for propaganda purposes rather than serious diplomacy. Khrushchev roundly denounced "colonizers" and "imperialism" as the major causes of past wars. Of course, he did not mention the Soviet Union's attack on Finland, the obliteration of the Baltic states, or the "colonization" of Eastern Europe by Moscow after World War II.

1971, Lyndon Johnson, “Thawing the Cold War”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 464–465:

Moscow said "Nyet!"

1987, Shelomoh Naḳdimon, First strike: the exclusive story of how Israel foiled Iraq's attempt to get the bomb, page 40:

Yet, a few US newscasters will go on the air at 6 pm or later and say, "Moscow said tonight.["] ... A careful writer would make his script read, "Moscow said today. ..."

1997, Mervin Block, Writing Broadcast News: Shorter, Sharper, Stronger, →ISBN, page 154:

In addition, Moscow argued that Georgia had violated international law by introducing its forces into South Ossetia, a move Moscow said Tbilisi had committed itself not to do under the earlier CIS-sponsored peacekeeping arrangements.

2009, Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Star, The Guns of August 2008: Russia's War in Georgia, →ISBN, page 184:

(metonymically, politics) The government of Russia or the Soviet Union.


World War I

(history) The war from 1914 to 1918 between the Entente Powers of the British Empire, Russian Empire, France, Italy, the United States and other allied nations, against the Central Powers represented by the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.

第１次世界大戦

だいいちじせかいたいせん


World War II

As students all over the United States knuckle down to learning, the rumble of war drums once more proclaims Mars high man in Europe. Discarding morbid curiosity, every student should consider it vitally necessary to get a general picture of the causes, movements, and possible effects of World War II. The average U. S. citizen's knowledge of World War II will probably decide his role in it.

1939 November 10, “Following The War”, in The Chart, volume I, number 1, Joplin, Missouri: Joplin Junior College, page 4, column 1:

Nothing since the beginning of World War II, a year ago last September, has boosted British morale or given them greater courage to fight on as has this brilliant Libyan campaign.

1941 March, Frederick M. Barrows, “The War in Africa”, in Command and General Staff School Military Review, volume XXI, number 80, →OCLC, page 23, column 1:

If Demandt's essay served as a strident example of the German desire for normalcy, a more subtle example was provided by a brief allohistorical depiction of a Nazi victory in World War II written by German historian Michael Salewski in 1999.

2005 May 23, Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, The World Hitler Never Made: Alternate History and the Memory of Nazism, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 182:

The tiny island of Tinian was the launch point for American planes carrying atomic bombs to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Now a new runway is being carved from the jungle, just south of World War II ruins inked with mildew.

2023 March 25, Damien Cave, “An Anxious Asia Arms for a War It Hopes to Prevent”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-25:

(history) The war from 1939 to 1945 of the Allied forces, including the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States, France, and China, against the Axis Powers, including Germany, Italy, and Japan.

מִלְחֶמֶת הָעוֹלָם הַשְּׁנִיָּה \ מלחמת העולם השנייה

Great Patriotic War

primarily in a Soviet or Russian context


troika

From Russian тро́йка (trójka, “a group of three”).

A great writer of the last epoch, comparing Russia to a swift troika galloping to an unknown goal, exclaims 'Oh, troika, birdlike troika, who invented thee!' and adds, in proud ecstasy, that all the peoples of the world stand aside respectfully to make way for the recklessly galloping troika to pass.

1880, Constance Garnett, chapter VI, in The Brothers Karamazov, book XII, translation of original by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, page 787:

When Gogol wrote his great passage on the troika speeding across the steppes, he likened it to Russia itself, advancing across the earth.

1960, Lesley Blanch, The Sabres of Paradise: Conquest and Vengeance in the Caucasus, Tauris Parke Paperbacks, published 2006, →ISBN, page 145:

Travelling part of the way by rail and the remainder by troika, he reached Orenburg shortly before Christmas.

1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia, Oxford University Press, published 2001, →ISBN, page 367:

A Russian carriage drawn by a team of three horses abreast.

The investigator suspected the poor dead bastards were just a vodka troika that had cheerily frozen to death.

1981, Martin Cruz Smith, Gorky Park, Ballantine Books, published 2007, →ISBN, page 3:

The bare troika of Boolean operators brought them into metaphorical being.

1995, Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2, New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, →ISBN, page 71:

“He said, 'Let me get the best people.' And that's what he did. He got John Kalodner and Gary Gersh and Tom Zutaut, and they became stars in their own right.” Over the ensuing decade, that troika of talent-finders would bring a host of multiplatinum artists—from Cher and Aerosmith to Guns N' Roses and Nirvana—to Geffen.

2006, Barney Hoskyns, Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends, John Wiley & Sons, published 2006, →ISBN, page 265:

No longer is the best picture going to be a toss-up between that troika of national-historical heavies: Argo, Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty.

2013 January 11, Tom Shone, “Oscar nominations pull a surprise by showing some taste — but will it last?”, in The Guardian:

A party or group of three, especially a ruling council of three people in Soviet or Russian contexts.


duma

From Russian ду́ма (dúma, “elective legislative assembly”, originally: “thought”), Origin of the Slavic term is disputed. Either of Germanic origin. Doublet of doom. Or from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke”), akin to Proto-Slavic *duti (“to blow"), *dymъ (“smoke”). The drink is named after the legislative assembly.

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Hence, while preserving his autocratic power, the Czar decrees a “Gosudarstvennaia Duma,” or State Council. The elections for this Duma will cover the whole territory of the Empire, ...

1905, “Russian Duma” in The Outlook Volume 80, 989

A Russian legislative assembly such as the historical duma of the Russian Empire or the modern lower house of the Federal Assembly (the Russian national parliament).

دُومَا

lower house of Russian national parliament


Pamyat

Borrowed from Russian Па́мять (Pámjatʹ), ultimately Russian па́мять (pámjatʹ, “memory”).

A right-wing Russian political movement.


Bolshevik

en-noun

Bolshevik (plural Bolsheviks or Bolsheviki)

Borrowed from Russian большеви́к (bolʹševík), from большинство́ (bolʹšinstvó, “majority”).

But such points were on the whole lost in the picture as it appeared in gross: everyone had confessed, the Old Bolsheviks had publicly avowed disgraceful plans and actions. The whole business almost passed belief. Were the confessions true? How had they been obtained? What did it all signify? We are told that the confessions were as little believed in Russia as abroad, ‘or even less’, but that the average Soviet citizen who had not been in jail found them as puzzling as foreigners did.

1968, Robert Conquest, “The Problem of Confession”, in The Great Terror: Stalin's Purge of the Thirties, Macmillan Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 124:

(historical) A Russian communist revolutionary, member of the Bolshevik Party in the 1917 Communist Revolution of Russia.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

(historical) A member of the Communist Party that ruled the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

bolshevik

a member of the majority faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party, which seized power in the October Revolution of 1917


okrug

From a Slavic language; compare Russian о́круг (ókrug) or Serbo-Croatian округ/okrug.

An administrative division of some Slavic states.


oblast

From a Slavic language, probably Russian о́бласть (óblastʹ, “region, province”), borrowed from Old Church Slavonic область (oblastĭ), from Proto-Slavic *obolstь, from earlier *obvolstь, *obvoldtь, a compound of *o(b)- (“over”) + *volstь (“rule, power, authority”), thus originally probably meaning "a region ruled over". Compare Proto-Slavic *obvoldati (“to rule”).

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The territorial subdivision below the level of the union republic — or at least below the level of the larger union republics — is that of the oblast, the krai, or the autonomous republic. In 1977 there were 120 oblasts, 6 krais, and 20 autonomous republics, and they corresponded roughly to the American state in size.

1979, Jerry Fincher Hough, How the Soviet Union Is Governed, page 483:

It is important to note, however, that the general pattern of Nizhnii Novgorod oblast at the top and Tiumen' and Yaroslavl' oblasts in the middle, with Saratov at the bottom, occurred too often across all indicators to assume that even those differences in means that were not significant at a .05 confidence level or better occurred merely by chance.

2002, Kathryn Stoner-Weiss, Local Heroes: The Political Economy of Russian Regional Governance, page 119:

Almaty oblast (distinct from Almaty city) is the most rural of Kazakhstan's oblasts, at just 22.2 percent urban.

2010, Martha Brill Olcott, Kazakhstan: Unfulfilled Promise, page 194:

A region or province in Slavic or Slavic-influenced countries.


tsarism

en-noun

tsarism (usually uncountable, plural tsarisms)

A supporter of monarchy ruled by a tsar.


Decembrist

From December + -ist, a calque of Russian декабри́ст (dekabríst).

calque

The word civicism (grazhdanstvennost’) originated in the enlightenment ideal of civic Rome, perceptions of the poet as a patriotic citizen and son of the fatherland, and Decembrist dreams of a republic.

1994, Lauren G. Leighton, Esoteric Tradition in Russian Romantic Literature: Decembrism and Freemasonry, Penn State University Press, page 17:

War and Peace grew out of Tolstoy's attempts to write a Decembrist novel, a work that first began to take shape in October 1856, when "The Distant Field" was begun.

2008, Kathryn B. Feuer, Tolstoy and the Genesis of War and Peace, Cornell University Press, page 206:

Mariia Trubnikova was raised in an atmosphere of pious reverence for Decembrist ideals.

2006, “Trubnikova, Mariia (1835-1897)”, in Francisca de Haan, Krasimira Daskalova, Anna Loutfi, editors, Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms: Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe, 19th and 20th Centuries, Central European University Press, page 584:

According to or derived from the politics or philosophy of the Decembrists.


autonomous oblast

en-noun

autonomous oblast (plural autonomous oblasts)

Unlike the Armenians in the NKAO they are deprived even of those opportunities represented by autonomous oblast status.

1989, Daily report: Soviet Union, Issues 181-186, p. 75

During the early Soviet period the territory [Nagorno Karabakh] was placed under control of Soviet Azerbaijan and given the status of autonomous oblast.

1992, Rachel Denber, Robert K. Goldman, Helsinki Watch, Bloodshed in the Caucasus: escalation of the armed conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, page vii:

The autonomous oblast has the rights and bears the obligations of a kray and oblast. The legal status of the autonomous oblast is determined by federal law enacted by the Russian Federation Supreme Soviet in accordance with a representation of the autonomous oblast.

1992, Draft Constitution of the Russian Federation, Article 81

One of the administrative divisions of the former Soviet Union created for certain “smaller” nations and characterized by following features: they were given an autonomy within a union republic or, in the RSFSR, within a krai; had a status lower than an autonomous republic; had a different titular nation from that of their union republic/krai. Abbreviated as AO.

ինքնավար մարզ

autonomous entity in the Soviet Union and Russia — see also AO


Kremlin

Goldwater brought the peace issue into focus early in the campaign with a series of statements implying that he would more than willingly threaten to use, or even use, nuclear weapons to gain American ends. Statements such as "I want to lob one into the men's room of the Kremlin and make sure I hit it" created the image of an impulsive man who shoots from the hip, who talks and acts first and thinks afterward.

1971, Lyndon Johnson, “The 1964 Campaign”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 102:

The Moscow Kremlin; a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia that serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

Politburo

also a proper noun sense from a common noun sense, and also often a metonym for the senior Soviet leadership

The Kremlin announced plans to increase funding for museums and the arts.

Moscow has put itself into a unique historical position: It does not have a single ally among the major powers of the world. The Kremlin faces potential adversaries in Western Europe, China, Japan, Canada, and the United States, whose combined gross national products account for over 60 percent of the world economy.

1988, Richard Nixon, “The Superpowers”, in 1999: Victory Without War, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 38:

(metonymically) The Russian or Soviet government.


FSB

From Russian ФСБ (FSB), initialism of Федеральная Служба Безопасности (Federalʹnaja Služba Bezopasnosti, “Federal Security Service”).

Possible victims included Roman Tsepov, Putin’s bodyguard in 1990s St Petersburg, who died after drinking tea in 2004 at a local FSB office.

2020 August 20, Luke Harding, “Alexei Navalny and the long history of poisoned Kremlin critics”, in The Guardian:

(initialism, Russia, politics, espionage, law enforcement) The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.


Bolshevism

Bolshevism (countable and uncountable, plural Bolshevisms)

/ˈbɑlʃəˌvɪzəm/

Borrowed from Russian большеви́зм (bolʹševízm, “Bolshevism”), from большинство (bolʹšinstvo, “majority, most”) (referring to the fact that the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party won on the majority of the important issues at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903) + -и́зм (-ízm, “-ism”, suffix forming the names of systems, schools of thought or theories based on the names of their subjects or objects). большинство is derived from большо́й (bolʹšój, “great, large”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bel-) + -ство (-stvo, suffix forming a neuter noun, usually an abstract noun denoting a relation, social status, scientific discipline, quality or state) (from Proto-Slavic *-ьstvo (suffix forming nouns denoting a condition or state)).

der

The split between the two trends of Bolshevism issued from questions of a very practical nature. [Alexander] Bogdanov and his group condemned participation in parliamentary, "bourgeois" politics. [Vladimir] Lenin, on the other hand, set the struggle for political power as the main task of the party. He was not occupied with creating and implanting an idea of the future of socialism; he thought of this more as a development to be expected from the period following the revolution. Instead he was preparing the organizational and political-intellectual grounds for a revolution that would be capable of overthrowing tsarism.

2015, Tamás Krausz, “Organization and Revolution”, in Bálint Bethlenfalvy, Mario Fenyo, transl., Reconstructing Lenin: An Intellectual Biography, New York, N.Y.: Monthly Review Press, →ISBN, page 127:

The strategy used by the Bolsheviks in attempting to gain power in Russia.

We of this generation owe it to the countless dead, to the peoples now living, to our children and children's children not to let the present situation go by without attempting in good faith to establish among those nations that will tolerate neither Kaiserism nor Bolshevism such a form of international court and police power as will have for its purpose the ringing out of an age of war and the ringing in of an age of peace.

1919, J[oseph] A[lfred] A[rner] Burnquist, Inaugural Message of Gov. J. A. A. Burnquist to the Legislature of Minnesota, [Minn.]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 4:

Let me ask you then, first, to consider what Bolshevism really is. Well, politically it is the usurpation of power over the whole by a small section of the community. […] The fundamental idea or principle of Bolshevism is that the proletariat, that is to say the lowest stratum of society, the most ignorant, the least educated, should be the basis of the State, should in fact absolutely control the State. Instead of the principle announced in the Declaration of Independence—that all men are created free and equal, Bolshevism proceeds upon the principle that only the proletariat has any rights or should enjoy any freedom; all other classes of the community are anathema.

1919 April 6, Randolph H. McKim, The Peril of Bolshevism and the Duty of America: A Sermon Delivered in the Church of the Epiphany, Washington, D.C., on Sunday, April 6, 1919 by the Rector, Washington, D.C.: Vestry of the Church of the Epiphany, →OCLC, page 4:

You can never tell to what length of devilry men will go when, setting out to see justice done, they give rein to the spirit of vindictiveness and are bent only on revenge and reprisals. The results may be terrible when the Simeons and Levis of society take law and justice into their own hands. Often it has worked out into grossest inhumanity and vilest bolshevism.

[1923], Thomas Tully, “Simeon and Levi—Evil Confederates”, in The Sons of Jacob and Their Tribal Blessings: Character Studies: A Series of Sunday Afternoon Addresses, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 32:

The task of educating the workers and all toilers in the spirit of proletarian internationalism is one of the fundamental tasks of every Communist Party. But whoever thinks that this permits him, or even compels him, to sneer at all the national sentiments of the broad toiling masses is far from genuine Bolshevism, and has understood nothing of the teaching of [Vladimir] Lenin and [Joseph] Stalin on the national question.

1935 September, Georgi Dimitroff (reporter), “United Front of the Working Class against Fascism”, in Working Class Unity—Bulwark against Fascism: The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks of the Communist International in the Fight for the Unity of the Working Class against Fascism: Seventh World Congress of the Communist International: Report, New York, N.Y.: Workers Library Publishers, →OCLC, pages 79–80:

Important for our purposes is the recognition that the proletariat could be seduced from its historic mission, at least for significant periods of time, by controlled propaganda and capitalist blandishments. The conviction, conjoined with Lenin's elitism, produced a fateful compound: Bolshevism.

1974, A[nthony] James Gregor, “The Twentieth Century and the Crisis of Classical Marxism”, in The Fascist Persuasion in Radical Politics, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 127:

[…] Stalin was never able to monopolise Marxism, and the same deficiencies in theory which facilitate the claim of Stalinism to be a Marxism, allowed alternatives – even other Bolshevisms – to become subversive doctrines in relation to the reality of Stalinist power.

1992, M[ichael] C[harles] Howard, J[ohn] E[dward] King, “The Political Economy of Stalin”, in A History of Marxian Economics, volumes II (1929–1990), Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 40:

The Communist political ideology adopted by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; Marxism-Leninism.


Putin

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-Putin.wav

Transliteration of Russian Пу́тин (Pútin).

transliteration

Пу́тин Путин#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian surname Пу́тин (Pútin).

Vladimir Putin; Russian president, 2012–current


silovik

From Russian силови́к (silovík), from си́ла (síla, “force”) + adjective suffix -ов (-ov, “-able/-ible”) + agent suffix -ик (-ik, “-ist, -er”), adjective: силово́й (silovój, “of or related to force”).

[T]he so-called siloviki have installed themselves deep inside the country’s boss class – something that did not happen to anything like the same degree during the Cold War.

2023, Robert Service, “The Misinformation Game”, in Literary Review, number 520:

(politics) A member of the Russian military, police, or intelligence services (chiefly the KGB or, later, the FSB), or a politician with a background in such services.

ուժային

former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)


Putinism

Indeed Putinism elided the differences between consensus, centrism and conformity.

2004, Cameron Ross, Russian Politics Under Putin, Manchester University Press, page 60:

Putin may now calculate he can call off the dogs of war, having achieved his aims and able to pocket his gains very cheaply. The Georgia campaign becomes the triumphant climax of Putinism. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/16/georgia.russia1

2008 August 16, Ian Traynor, “Six days that broke one country - and reshaped the world order”, in The Guardian:

And so it was Surkov who in 2004 announced that Putinism, this strange new hybrid of Soviet-type authoritarianism and free-market morals, was based on the concept of ‘sovereign democracy’.

2014, Marc Bennetts, Kicking the Kremlin: Russia’s New Dissidents and the Battle to Topple Putin, Oneworld Publications:

Navalny’s boyish charm, quick wit and detailed accounts of the dodgy deals and luxurious homes of the elite have made his Internet-distributed videos oopular as devastating indictments of the open-mawed corruption of late Putinism.

2019, Mark Galeotti, We Need to Talk About Putin: Why the West gets him wrong, and how to get him right, London: Random House:

(politics) The political policies of Vladimir Putin; the Russian political system during Putin’s tenure in power.

putinizëm

the political policies of Vladimir Putin


Menshevik

en-noun

Menshevik (plural Mensheviks or Mensheviki)

Borrowed from Russian меньшеви́к (menʹševík), derived from меньшинство́ (menʹšinstvó, “minority”), formed in turn from Russian ме́ньше (ménʹše), the comparative of ма́лый (mályj, “little”).

‘Better an ultra-leftist than a Menshevik,’ said Rosa Kaletsky.

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber 2003, page 259:

Let me be clear. The men and women on this stage have more ideas, more experience, more common sense than every participant in the Democratic debate. That debate reflected a debate between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks.

2015 October 28, Ted Cruz, quotee, “Transcript: Read the Full Text of the CNBC Republican Debate in Boulder”, in Time:

(now chiefly historical) A member of the gradualist or moderate wing of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party during the years preceding the Russian Revolution, when they split with the Bolsheviks; or a member of a later independent moderate-Marxist party formed in 1917.

մենշեւիկ

member of a minority faction of the Russian revolutionary movement


Atlanticism

From Atlantic + -ism, from the name of the Atlantic Ocean between the two continents.

Dugin’s main argument in Foundations came straight from Haushofer’s pages: the need to thwart the conspiracy of “Atlanticism” led by the United States and NATO and aimed at containing Russia within successive geographic rings of newly independent states.

2016 July 27, Charles Clover, “The Unlikely Origins of Russia's Manifest Destiny”, in Foreign Policy:

(politics) A philosophy of cooperation among Western European and North American nations.


Komsomol

Borrowed from Russian комсомо́л (komsomól), acronym of коммунисти́ческий сою́з молодёжи (kommunistíčeskij sojúz molodjóži, “Communist Union of Youth”).

acronym

коммунисти́ческий сою́з молодёжи

(historical) Young Communist League, the former youth wing of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.


sovok

Unadapted borrowing from Russian сово́к (sovók, “scoop, dustpan”), which starts similarly to сове́т (sovét, “Soviet”) or сове́тский (sovétskij, “Soviet”, adjective).

ubor

(derogatory) Of or relating to the Soviet Union.

sovdepiya

Soviet Union, things associated with the Soviet Union


autonomous okrug

en-noun

autonomous okrug (plural autonomous okrugs)

In the Soviet Union and Russia, a territorial and administrative division of a krai or oblast, which grants a degree of administrative autonomy to an ethnic minority, usually located in large, remote areas with sparse populations.

ինքնավար օկրուգ

a territorial and administrative division — see also AO


Putinland

(derogatory) Russia under the presidency of Vladimir Putin


Putinstan

(derogatory) Russia under the government of Vladimir Putin.


Putler

Borrowed from Russian Пу́тлер (Pútler), otherwise blend of Putin + Hitler. Compare English Xitler.

(derogatory, offensive) Vladimir Putin (president of Russia).


vatnik

Borrowed from Russian ва́тник (vátnik, literally “quilted jacket”). The sense of "unintelligent Russian patriot" was derived from the jackets worn by Soviet citizens and an online cartoon about a sentient jacket known by the same name.
The term was popularized in Russia in 2011 and re-popularized at large in 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine to refer to supporters of the invasion, especially online users, even if they are not from Russia. Reflecting usage in Ukrainian and Russian, the term was later extended to refer to Russian soldiers who were involved in war against Ukraine.

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Two models each for men and women are featured at prices ranging from 100 to 140 rubles, more than the cost of a 'vatnik.' (The ruble is nominally valued at four to $1.)

Vatnik, originally a name of a warm cotton-padded Russian jacket that is still used sometimes in rural areas, has a broad meaning of all people with imperial Russian ideology.

2015 January 5, Oksana Grytsenko, “Ukrainian wartime glossary: Ukrop, Vatnik and more”, in Kyiv Post (news), →ISBN:

A vatnik basically refers to a Russian who is not too bright and who loves him some Putin.

2017, Erin Coyne, Igor Fisun, What They Didn't Teach You in Russian Class: Slang Phrases for the Cafe, Club, Bar, Bedroom, Ball Game and More, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

To mock the audience and depict the Russian man as a vatnik [uneducated hurray patriot] or a gopnik [in English: chav] seems totally inappropriate to me.

2017, Lena Jonson, Andrei Erofeev, Russia - Art Resistance and the Conservative-Authoritarian Zeitgeist, Routledge, →ISBN:

At first, vatniks were pro-Russian citizens, in the view of some, Sovietized lumpenproletariat, who supported the separation of Crimea and close ties with [Russia].

2017, Anna Matveeva, Through Times of Trouble: Conflict in Southeastern Ukraine Explained from Within, Lexington Books, →ISBN, page 198:

[…] many pro-Maidan FB-users whose posts I analysed saw themselves as nothing less than the standard-bearers of civilization: 'The work on vatniks requires huge eﬀorts, but this is what distinguishes civilization from barbarism' (FB-user 15, Kyiv).

2020, Natalia Knoblock, Language of Conflict: Discourses of the Ukrainian Crisis, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 109:

(derogatory) An unintelligent Russian patriot.

վատնիկ

unintelligent Russian patriot, supporter of Russian aggressive policies (derogatory)

黄俄

specifically pro-Russian nationalist Chinese

(derogatory, Internet slang, neologism, by extension) A supporter of Vladimir Putin, Russian nationalism, or the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine; a Putinist.

(derogatory, Internet slang, neologism, by extension) A soldier in the Russian armed forces involved in the invasion of Ukraine.


Wagnerite

Until international law settles the status of PMCs, the Kremlin will continue to use them in the international arena. According to Reuters, about 400 ‘Wagnerites’ have been recently sent to Venezuela to protect president Nicolas Maduro.

2019 January 31, Denis Shpigov, “Wagner group: Mercenaries protecting Kremlin’s interests worldwide”, in BelsatTV, archived from the original on 2023-03-15:

Wagnerites: "We need more drones, ideally armed. And MRAPs, and more thermal sights, and better comms, and new helicopters to replace those lost..."
Prigozhin: "Best I can do is another movie"

2021 December 5, @AbraxasSpa, Twitter, retrieved 2023-03-15:

“The enemy again made a desperate attempt to storm the city of Soledar from different directions and threw the most professional units of the Wagnerites into battle,” Ukraine’s military said on Monday, echoing comments made by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Sunday.

2023 January 9, Peter Beaumont, “Ukraine reinforces Bakhmut defences amid relentless Russian assault”, in The Guardian:

"We will not leave Bakhmut," vowed Prigozhin in his audio message. "We'll simply die in double the numbers until all [the Wagnerites] are finished. And when the Wagnerites are completely finished, most likely Shoigu and Gerasimov will have to pick up machine guns."

2023 February 22, Paul Kirby, “Russian Wagner chief Prigozhin blames ammunition shortage for high deaths”, in BBC News:

(military) A mercenary from the Wagner Group PMC.


kompromat

en-noun

kompromat (countable and uncountable, plural kompromats)

Borrowed from Russian компрома́т (kompromát), short for компромети́рующий материа́л (komprometírujuščij materiál, “compromising material”). KGB slang from the Stalin era.

Many observers have commented that, with so many Russian newspapers and TV channels now controlled by oligarchs or powerful organisations, kompromat is now a regular feature in the supposedly independent press.

If your car has a bunch of data that's useful to stalkers, it's only because the car manufacturers have turned cars into rolling surveillance platforms that spy on their drivers constantly […] If Big Car is worried that used vehicles are full of nonconsensually collected kompromat, maybe they could, you know, just stop collecting all that data?

2020 September 3, Cory Doctorow, “Big Car says Right to Repair will MURDER YOU”, in Pluralistic:

Compromising material, blackmail material, (real or fabricated) evidence that a person does not want revealed, dirt.


Putinesque

en-adj

Putinesque (comparative more Putinesque, superlative most Putinesque)

more Putinesque (comparative)
most Putinesque (superlative)

Appointed foreign minister in 2004, he has since then through successive US administrations developed a Putinesque revulsion for all western ideas, if not all western consumer durables. At one point, he said all the ills of the 20th century colonialism, two world wars and the cold war lay at the door of American arrogance.

2022 November 15, Patrick Wintour, “Sergei Lavrov, a fixture of Russian diplomacy facing his toughest test in Ukraine”, in The Guardian:

Reminiscent of the beliefs or policies of Vladimir Putin (born 1952), President of Russia since 2012.

putinmainen

reminiscent of the beliefs or policies of Vladimir Putin


uyezd

(historical) An administrative subdivision of Muscovy, the Russian Empire, and the early Russian SFSR, in use from the 13th century.


Yeltsinism

It thus seems that the 'constitutional coup' brought about a 'Yeltsinism without Yeltsin', a surgical operation that aimed at prolonging the life of Yeltsinism, even if this entailed the removal of Yeltsin himself and the institution of measures against the corruption and nepotism that had gone beyond all limits in his immediate entourage.

2000, Mohamed Sid-Ahmed, Al-Ahram Weekly, Issue No. 464, Putin's impossible equation

(disapproving) the political and economic policies of Boris Yeltsin, after he became the effective ruler of Russia following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991

the outward appearance of democracy, while actually concentrating power in a form of authoritarianism

All the while, a bogeyman served him well—not a return to communism, Yeltsin’s scarecrow, but the chaos of Yeltsinism.

2015, Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, CFR, The Resistible Rise of Vladimir Putin

the economic and social chaos as a result of the decline of the authority of the Russian state


Decembrism

The policies and practices of the Decembrists.


putinisation

From Putin + -ise + -ation or Putinise + -ation.

(politics, British spelling) The taking over of power utilizing allegedly undemocratic means.


Putinian

Putinian (comparative more Putinian, superlative most Putinian)

more Putinian (comparative)
most Putinian (superlative)

Last but not least, and in the long term, this would mean that the Kremlin eventually has to give up its Putinian delusions of rebuilding the Russian empire.

2022 March 4, Timothy Garton Ash, “In this moment of crisis, opening the door to Ukraine is one thing the EU can do”, in The Guardian:

Of or relating to Vladimir Putin (born 1952), 2nd and 4th President of Russia.


Russian White House

From being a building in Russia having a white exterior. From Russian Белый дом (Belyj dom, “White House”)

uder

The primary government building of the Russian Federation, located in Moscow, also housing the Office of the Prime Minister of Russia.


Eurasianism

neo-Eurasianism

specifically the ideology by Aleksandr Dugin and the like

Ruscism

a movement supporting Vladimir Putin and militarism

The third intellectual context important for civilizationism in post-Soviet intellectual production is Eurasianism—both the classical Russian émigré movement of the 1920s and the late Soviet and early post-Soviet “neo-Eurasianism” of such thinkers as Lev Gumilev, Aleksandr Dugin, and Aleksandr Panarin.

2020, Kåre Johan Mjør, Sanna Turoma, editors, Russia as Civilization, Routledge, →ISBN, page 1983:

(geopolitics) A Russian political movement focused on the Russian geopolitical interests in Eurasia.

eurasianismi

Russian political movement focused on the geopolitical concept of Eurasia


poke the bear

en-verb

poke the bear (third-person singular simple present pokes the bear, present participle poking the bear, simple past and past participle poked the bear)

pokes the bear (present singular third-person)
poking the bear (participle present)
poked the bear (participle past)
poked the bear (past)

The second sense refers to the use of bears to represent Russia, as a shortening of the idiom "poke the Russian bear" (to anger or threaten Russia and start a war with Russia).

when you mess with the bull, you get the horns

(slang, idiomatic) To deliberately anger Russia or the Russian government.


Roskomnadzor

From Russian Роскомнадзо́р (Roskomnadzór).

bor

Роскомнадзо́р

The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media: a Russian federal executive body responsible for censorship in media and telecommunications.


zigger

Ukraine breaking away from Russia's sphere of influence and joining Europe and the West is based. Russia is a zigger shithole.

2023 June 14, Anglospherist 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇨🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿🇫🇰🇮🇪🇮🇲🇬🇮, Twitter:

Pakis may be annoying, but at least they're Muslim and actually like Turkey. Ziggers move there and still paint Zs on their cars.

It's so insane how ziggers will completely deny anything bad about Russians.

2023 June 24, Emirhan Niyazi Ozanich, Twitter:

Fuck me, there's actually more ziggers on telegram than there are here on twitter 😒.

2023 June 29, Zelenskyy (now banned), Twitter:

Why are they dancing?!?!? Don't they know ziggers are complaining and posting Strelkovisms on twitter!?!?!

2023 July 15, Л?берал_𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 🧠🎮, Twitter:

(derogatory, vulgar, offensive, neologism, politics) Someone who supports Kremlin doctrine and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.


Kremlebot

(neologism, derogatory) A person hired to make pro-Kremlin comments on social networks.

кремлебо́т

a Kremlin bot, a person hired to make pro-Kremlin comments on social networks or suspected in doing so; an online identity of such a perso


Politburo

Any of various politburos, especially that of the Soviet Union or that of the People's Republic of China.

(metonymically) The senior leadership of the Soviet Union, or that of the People's Republic of China.


Putinista

Supporter or advocate of Vladimir Putin.


National Bolshevik

en-noun

National Bolshevik (plural National Bolsheviks)

An adherent of National Bolshevism; a nazbol.


National Bolshevism

A neo-fascist ultranationalist ideology primarily originated from Russia that combines strong elements of classical fascism with economical communism.

民族ボルシェヴィズム

みんぞくボルシェヴィズム


Ukrofascist

[…] and through to TV news reports and talk-shows recounting phantasmic atrocities committed by “ukro-fascists”, from cannibalism to child crucifixion to the “genocide” of Russians in East Ukraine.⁵

2014 April 1, Julie Fedor, Andriy Portnov, Andreas Umland, Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society: Sociographic Essays on the Post-Soviet Infrastructure for Alternative Healing Practices (Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society), volume 1, number 1, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 2:

In many Russian circles, the narrative surrounding the conflict in eastern Ukraine borrows from the rhetoric of World War II, with talk of “liberating” cities now under Kiev’s control and even retaking Kiev from U.S.-backed “Ukrofascists.”

2015 May 8, Maria Antonova, “Putin’s Great Patriotic Purge”, in Foreign Policy:

She held a poster stating that [Belarusian President] Alexander Lukashenko is working with “Ukrofascists.”

2017 June 2, Lincoln Pigman, “Inside Russia’s National Liberation Movement With Pavel Merzlikin”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

For starters, we need to say what this voice is not. It's certainly not the naive slogans about a “junta” and “Ukrofascists” that are repeated like a mantra in the DPR ranks. They had to work their way to that.

2022 February 28, Stanislav Aseyev, In Isolation: Dispatches from Occupied Donbas (Harvard Library of Ukrainian Literature), Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 58:


Pootin

the notion that anything pootin says is worth listening to...
is a form of self-delusion...

2017 April 8, abelard, “pootin will tell any lie with a flat face”, in talk.politics.misc (Usenet):

‘Tsar Pootin’ was pissed that America wasn’t […] treating Russia as an equal partner.

2017, The Republic: Traitor, R.R. Quaggiato:

Windopws^([sic]) is full of swiss cheese. And Pootin's government workers are rebelling over the threat to their grannies because they love Linux more than grannies, but grannies are more important than Pootin. Novachooking Pootin and anyone who mentions Windopws^([sic]) is one option being considered by rebels in St. Pootersberg.

2018 October 20, 7, “Linux threatens to destabilize Pootin's government over Novachooking grannies”, in comp.os.linux.advocacy (Usenet):

St. Petersberg is to be cleared of all Linux users unless they
want their knobs novachooked and the city is to be renamed St. Pootiberg
demands Pootin who is distant relative of Raspootin.

2018 November 10, I, “Pootin kills Muscovites accusing them of being Linux users, threatens St. Petersberg users with Novachook”, in comp.os.linux.advocacy (Usenet):

Pootin is always threatening the planet with nuclear annihilation, but
it may not come in the form of rockets but rather typical Russian stupidity.

2022 August 5, JeSSe, “ANOTHER nuclear power plant ready to cook thanks to Pootin and his Orcs”, in uk.current-events.terrorism (Usenet):

(politics, slang, derogatory, vulgar) Vladimir Putin.


Putinite

(politics) A supporter of Putin or of his policies.


Putinise

en-verb

Putinise (third-person singular simple present Putinises, present participle Putinising, simple past and past participle Putinised)

Putinises (present singular third-person)
Putinising (participle present)
Putinised (participle past)
Putinised (past)

(politics, transitive, somewhat derogatory) To take over power employing allegedly undemocratic means.


Pooty

(slang, derogatory) Vladimir Putin (born 1952), Russian politician who has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999.


Pooty-Poot

(slang, sometimes derogatory) Vladimir Putin (born 1952), Russian politician who has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999.


Duginism

(politics) The political ideology of Russian political philosopher Aleksandr Dugin.


Russosphere

Russia and other countries in its sphere of influence, including former territories under the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.


deputinization

(neologism, politics) The process of the removal of the influence of Vladimir Putin from politics.

deputinizasiya

the process of the removal of the influence of Vladimir Putin from politics


zwastika

From Russian Z + swastika, comparing the Russian nationalist usage of the Z letter to the Nazi German swastika as a symbol of war against Ukraine. See the Russian section on Z for more information.

(slang, neologism, derogatory) A Z letter used by Russian nationalists, usually to support Vladimir Putin or the Russian invasion of Ukraine.


Ruscism

Borrowed from Russian раши́зм (rašízm) or Ukrainian раши́зм (rašýzm), blend of Ра́ша (Ráša, “Russia (chiefly derogatory)”) + фаши́зм (fašízm, “fascism”), the first an unadapted borrowing from English Russia. Compare Russian Росси́я (Rossíja, “Russia”) or Ukrainian Росі́я (Rosíja, “Russia”).

blend

Pro-Ukrainian commentators also used the word Rashizm. Derived from Rasha (from the English “Russia”), combined with the Russian fashizm, and perhaps best translated as “Ruscism,” this term is . . .

2015, Elizaveta Gaufman, “Memory, Media, and Secularization: Russian Media Framing of the Ukrainian Crisis,” in Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society (→ISSN), v 1, n 1, pp 160–61

Pro-Ukrainian commentators have also used the word ‘Rashism’ (conflation of ‘Russia’ and ‘fascism’) to emphasize the aggressive intentions of Russia.

2016, Elizaveta Gaufman, “Security Threats and Public Perception: Digital Russia and the Ukraine Crisis” (New Security Challenges series), Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, p 107

On the other side, a large segment of the Ukrainian press has been presenting the Putin regime as fascist: commentators have coined the nickname Putler (Putin + Hitler) and the term Rashism, which conflates Russia and fascism.

2020, Marlene Lurelle, “Reductio ad Hitlerum as a New Frame for Political and Geopolitical Conflicts,” in Eric Shiraev, Jennifer Keohane, Martijn Icks, and Sergei A. Samoilenko editors, Routledge Handbook of Character Assassination and Reputation Management, New York and Abingdon: Routledge, p 315

[…] science, and science-based ultramodern technologies (AI) invented for progress have transformed into cynical means of conducting the third world war by immoral intellect of the ideologists of Ruscism [4].

2020 April 27, Actual problems of science and practice, International Science Group, →ISBN, page 175:

“We have beat fascism, and we will defeat Ruscism,” said Pavel Kirilenko, governor of the Donetsk region, who arrived with heavily armed guards to lay flowers at the monument.

2022 May 10, Michael Schwirtz, “Invasion upends a shared World War II history with Ukraine”, in The Boston Globe, volume 301, number 130, page A8:

(politics, neologism, slang, derogatory) Russian fascism, Russianism, Great Russian chauvinism; the ideology of Russia, seen as fascism or as fascist.


russist

From Ukrainian раши́ст (rašýst), itself a blend of Ра́ша (Ráša, “Russia”) (derogatory) + фаши́ст (fašýst, “fascist”).

(politics, neologism, derogatory) A follower of the ideology of Ruscism (“Russian fascism”).


Rashism

Borrowed from Ukrainian ра́шизм (rášyzm), Russian ра́шизм (rášizm); originally formed from Ра́ша (Ráša, “Russia (derogatory, slang)”) + фаши́зм (fašízm, “fascism”).


VVP

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
w:Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

Initialism of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.


anti-Putinism

(politics) Opposition to the political policies of Vladimir Putin.


Ruzzia

Neologism following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At first a blend of Russia + Nazi, after 2022 a blend of Russia + Z, using the military Russian Z symbol of Russian propaganda to mock the Russian invasion of Ukraine. See Z for more information. Compare with Russian РоZZи́я (RoZZíja) and Ukrainian РоZZі́я (RoZZíja).

A third user, @Ni79Mo wrote: "See what happens when you hang out with RuZZia too much? You start creating your own realities as well."

2022 June 8, Millie Cooke, “'No shame!' Olaf Scholz sensationally claims Germany gives MORE support to Ukraine than UK”, in Daily Express:

Shayk was accused of being a "supporter of the terrorist state Ruzzia and genocide of Ukrainians."

2022 July 15, Will Stewart, Liam Buckler, “Supermodel accused of 'backing Putin’s war' after using 'Z' symbol in Instagram caption”, in The Mirror:

Because one way to fight a proxy war is to flood the market with cheap oil and that’s what the US is doing in its support of Ukraine against what the late Senator John McCain called Ruzzia: "a petrol (gas) station, run by a Mafia, masquerading as a country"

2022 September 8, Chris Becker, “Crude oil prices tank as US floods market”, in MacroBusiness:

I received a letter that instilled in me feelings of rage and pain- my assigned roommate is going to be a competitor from the terrorist-country, from a country that lost all laws and order, from the despot-country, from the disgusting and deceitful stain on the body of our beautiful planet, from ruzzia^([sic]).

2022 October 5, Charles Wade-Palmer, “Ukraine beauty queen slams pageant officials for rooming her with Russian rival”, in The Daily Star:

(slang, derogatory, neologism) Alternative spelling of Russia.

orc

another neologism; a derogatory term for a Russian soldier


special military operation

en-noun

special military operation (plural special military operations)

Calque of Russian специа́льная вое́нная опера́ция (speciálʹnaja vojénnaja operácija), a phrase used by Vladimir Putin upon launching an attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022:
In this regard, in accordance with Article 51 of Part 7 of the UN Charter, with the approval of the Federation Council of Russia and in pursuance of the treaties of friendship and mutual assistance ratified by the Duma on February 22 with the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic, I decided to launch a special military operation.

cal

специа́льная вое́нная опера́ция

blockquote

By undermining the effectiveness of the sanctions regime being imposed on Russia, China clearly hopes to weaken the compliance mechanism that keeps that order working and under American control. Beijing probably also has an eye on blunting the effectiveness of this particular mechanism so that it can’t be effectively deployed against China in the event that Beijing feels compelled to conduct its own “special military operation” against Taiwan.

2022 March 25, Andrew Latham, “Three reasons why the China-Russia alliance is deepening”, in The Hill, archived from the original on 2022-03-25:

China could be planning its own Russia-style “special military operation” in Taiwan, an island that the Chinese Communist Party insists is Chinese territory, according to reports from China.

2022 June 17, Jack Buckby, “A Chinese Invasion of Taiwan Could Unleash an Economic Disaster”, in RealClearDefense, archived from the original on 2022-06-17:

China's "special military operation" will not take place now. Before that happens, China would have to carry out at least one major military maneuver with live fire in exercises that could end up taking place tomorrow according to a few posts ago highlighting the tuning between 2022 and 1995/1996.

2022 August 2, Suetham, “Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis”, in SinoDefenceForum, archived from the original on 2022-09-08:

Medvedev cited these supposed “Western analysts” in order to propagate Russia’s colonial fantasy: envisioning Ukraine’s territory reduced to just the Kyiv region, while the remainder of Ukraine would be divided among Russia, Poland, Romania, and Hungary. Such a narrative recalls Putin’s February 2022 speech questioning Ukraine’s statehood and accompanies intensifying Russian calls to expand its “special military operation” to realize its imperial map.

2022 August 24, “Russia’s War on Ukraine: Six Months of Lies, Implemented”, in United States Department of State, archived from the original on 2022-08-24:

Beijing expresses understanding of reasons that made Russia begin the special military operation for protection of Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters Monday.

2022 September 5, “China expresses understanding of reasons behind Russia’s special military operation — aide”, in TASS, archived from the original on 2022-09-05:

When asked if Beijing considers a special military operation against Taiwan possible, Liu Xiaoming said that the Chinese government reserves the right to take all necessary measures to ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country.

2023 April 27, “CHINESE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE LIU XIAOMING GAVE AN INTERVIEW TO TASS”, in Center for International Security and Strategy Tsinghua University, archived from the original on 2023-05-06:

Repeated clashes between the two warring parties would threaten more Chinese people and the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor if they expand, with displaced people fleeing toward the Chinese frontier. If that happens, Beijing could be forced to conduct its own “special military operation” in Myanmar’s territory to reestablish the buffer.

2024 January 10, Emanuele Scimia, “How multiple global challenges may limit Beijing’s options on Taiwan”, in South China Morning Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-01-10, Opinion:

(euphemistic, neologism) A military situation resembling a war.

Vladimir Putin
special military operation


Ruzzian

Neologism following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At first a blend of Russian + Nazi, after 2022 a blend of Russian + Z, using the Russian Z symbol of Russian propaganda to mock the Russian invasion of Ukraine. See Z for more information. Analyzable as Ruzzia + -n.

One individual shared the clip via Twitter and said: "Wow Ruzzian state TV... Gets real".

2022 September 29, Reuters Fact Check, “Fact Check-Clip of Russian television presenter dubbed with fabricated satirical subtitles”, in Reuters:

Anton got custom lettering for the bumper of one of his cars: "Collector of corpses of Ruzzian soldiers."

2022 October 1, Isabelle Khurshudyan, “Searching for bodies with the Ukrainian captain collecting Russian corpses”, in Washington Post:

However, at one rally in Washington D.C., police restrained a woman who spat twice at officers, with a video of the "Ruzzian Karen", as she was quickly dubbed by social media users, going viral.

2022 October 12, Tom Norton, “Fact Check: Was Pro-Russian 'Karen' Jailed for Spitting at Secret Service?”, in Newsweek:

(slang, derogatory, neologism) Alternative spelling of Russian.


Ruzzian

Oh, God! To sound more RUZZIAN: it was exactly for Russiastan who had divided the world for two camps: for those who always support Putler and the rest – Nazzies, of course, according to Ruzzians. What personal opinion can you have if you’ve already been brainwashed to thank your Fuhrer for everything?

2016 May 18, Paweł Nowak, “Linguistic Image of the Conflict. Semantics and Pragmatics”, in Framing of the Ukraine–Russia conflict in online and social media, Riga: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, →ISBN, page 73:

"Ruzzians tried to hide some ammo in the forest but something went wrong. Belgorod. Filmed by drone with thermal camera," the user wrote while sharing the post.

2022 August 20, Diksha Rani, “Watch: Drone Footage Of Russian Ammunition Catching Fire In Forest”, in NDTV:

Ha Ha, ruZZians fleeing to Dan Christensens big foot home:

2022 October 6, Mostowski Collapse, “Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping donated Five Thousand each to Save the Ark:”, in sci.math (Usenet):

Not to mention her association with Ruzzians.

2022 October 27, Ken Olson, “Mid-Term Election Prediction”, in rec.sport.football.college (Usenet):

(derogatory, slang, neologism) Alternative spelling of Russian.


Ukronazism

Borrowed from Russian укронаци́зм (ukronacízm), coined to translate the 2022 op-ed What Russia Should Do with Ukraine. Analyzeable as Ukronazi + -ism or Ukro- + Nazism.

bor+

Ukronazism poses a much bigger threat to the world and Russia than the Hitler version of German Nazism.

2022 April 3, Timofey Sergeytsev, “What Russia Should Do with Ukraine”, in Mariia Kravchenko, transl., Medium, archived from the original on 2022-11-03:

After the launch Dmitry Rogozin, director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, claimed on Twitter that the weapon was a "present to Nato and all sponsors of Ukro-Nazism", in a reference to Russia's propaganda claims about the conflict in Ukraine.

2022 April 20, Charlie Parker, “Putin warns West with long-range Satan 2 missile”, in The Times, archived from the original on 2022-04-20:

In Sergeitsev's hermetic logic, when contemporary Ukrainians look different from historical Banderites or Nazis, then that is precisely what makes 'Ukro-Nazism' so elusive and threatening for Russia.

2022 November 30, Boris Noordenbos, “Memory wars beyond the metaphor: Reflections on Russia's mnemonic propaganda”, in Andrew Hoskins, editor, Memory Studies, volume 15, number 6, SAGE Publishing, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC:

2023 September 26, “Statement of the State Duma in connection with the promotion of Ukronazism and neo-fascism by the Canadian authorities”, in State Duma:

(offensive, derogatory) Anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine, supposedly resembling or derived from neo-Nazism.


Putinophilia

“Ukraine attacks Russia!” was the surreal headline on a report in the 22 February edition of Informer, Serbia’s biggest-selling tabloid. That headline was not a one off, it was an expression of the Putinophilia that has been strong in Serbia for years.

2022 October 28, Tomislav Marković, “The cult of Putin in Serbia reflects a nation that has still not dealt with its past”, in The Guardian:

(politics, informal) The love or admiration of Vladimir Putin (born 1952), Russian politician who has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999.


Putinophile

It's not clear if the job ad is a hoax, a publicity stunt, or a genuine appeal to the young Putinophile with an eye for fashion statements and espionage.

2016 August 30, Nick Miller, “Time to add some glamour to Russian espionage, unusual Raketa watch ad hints”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:

(politics, informal) A fan or supporter of Vladimir Putin (born 1952), Russian politician who has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999.


Putinomania

Putinomania gradually became an element of Russian life. New textbooks were introduced in the schools of Saint Petersburg, Putin’s hometown, that described the childhood of Uttle Volodya Putin. That meant something to people who had learned to read with books about the childhood of litde Volodya Ulyanov (Lenin).

2005, “The Moment of Truth”, in Lilia Shevtsova, translated by Antonina W. Bouis, Putin's Russia, Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, →ISBN, page 123:

The Putin cult is most visible in his native St. Petersburg. The city is in the vanguard of Putinomania. One local sculptor is preparing a bronze bust. […] The pompous celebrations in 2003 marking the 300th anniversaiy of the founding of the city threw oil on the flames of Putinomania.

2005, Boris Lanin, “Putin and Culture”, in Dale R. Herspring, editor, Putin's Russia: Past Imperfect, Future Uncertain, 2nd edition, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, →ISBN, page 77:

Putinomania was stoked throughout the country, as state-owned media pictured Putin daily, meeting national and regional leaders and making an unprecedented number of foreign trips. Russia was once again a player on the international stage, to be respected and taken into account.

2014, Karen Dawisha, “The Founding of the Putin System”, in Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 310:

(politics) The fervent admiration of Vladimir Putin (born 1952), Russian politician who has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999.


white-blue-white flag

en-noun

white-blue-white flag (plural white-blue-white flags)

Thousands of Russians marched through Prague on Saturday, waving the white-blue-white flag that has become a symbol of protests against Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

2022 March 26, “Thousands of Russians in Prague Protest against War in Ukraine”, in Asharq Alawsat, English edition, London:

“I love this idea,” Ponomarev said, pointing to the white-blue-white flag that forms the channel’s live studio backdrop. It is the Russian tricolour “minus the red blood”, he said.

2022 June 7, Luke Harding, “Russian-language Ukrainian TV channel aims to topple Putin”, in The Guardian, page 20:

NHK World noted that the protesters held up signs saying "No war" and other messages. They also waved white-blue-white flags, which have become a symbol of opposition to Russia's invasion.

2023 January 22, “Russians living in Japan protest against Putin administration”, in BBC Monitoring Newsfile (wire feed):

(R) The patches with a white-blue-white flag and the logo of the Free Russia Legion are seen during a briefing in northern Ukraine, not far from the Russian border, on May 24, 2023.

2023 May 26, Asami Terajima, “Belgorod incursion: Meet the anti-Kremlin militia behind the attack inside Russia”, in The Kyiv Independent, image caption:

(neologism) A symbol of opposition to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine that has been used by Russian anti-war protester, as well as a symbol of opposition to the current government of Russia, by several personal internet accounts.


Russian world

Calque of Russian ру́сский мир (rússkij mir).

calque

ру́сский мир

The community of Russia as its own world; the Russosphere.


Kadyrovite

en-noun

Kadyrovite (plural Kadyrovites or Kadyrovtsy)

Kadyrovites (plural)
Kadyrovtsy (plural)

From Kadyrov + -ite, a calque of Russian кадыровец (kadyrovec), from Кадыров (Kadyrov) + -ец (-ec, “person associated with”).

suffix

"We are well aware of the special operation that was to take place directly by the Kadyrovites to eliminate our president. And I can say that we have received information from the FSB, who today do not want to take part in this bloody war," Danilov said. "And thanks to this, the Kadyrov elite group was destroyed, which came here to eliminate our president."

2022 March 2, Brigid Kennedy, “Ukraine reportedly foiled a Zelensky assassination plot after a tipoff from Russian authorities”, in The Week:

Most of the Russian servicemen sitting in and atop 34 armed personnel carriers that rolled into Bucha on February 27 were ethnic Chechens, according to Ukrainian military leaders and government officials. Bearded and burly, clad in brand new, perfectly fitting uniforms and toting assault rifles, they hoped to whiz through the leafy suburb northwest of Kyiv to enter the Ukrainian capital on the war’s third day. They are known as “Kadyrovtsy” or “Kadyrovites” after their leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya’s pro-Kremlin strongman, and their reputation preceded them.

[2022 August 18, Mansur Mirovalev, “The real role of pro-Russian Chechens in Ukraine”, in Al Jazeera:

"The claimed return of Chechen forces to offensive operations would break Kadyrovites from a nearly yearlong hiatus from participating in high-intensity combat operations," the ISW wrote, noting Kadyrov's troops "have been largely operating in the rear after participating in the battles for Mariupol, Severodonetsk, and Lysychansk.

2023 June 1, David Brennan, “Why Chechens Can't Replace Wagner in Ukraine”, in Newsweek:

A member of the 141st Special Motorized Regiment, or any other formation subordinate to Ramzan Kadyrov.


rushist

en-adjective

rushist (comparative more rushist, superlative most rushist)

more rushist (comparative)
most rushist (superlative)

The Kremlin regime should not be called Russian regime. The Kremlin regime should be called Rushist regime.

2022 February 25, Sergiy Kyslytsya, “Statement of Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Mr. Sergiy Kyslytsya at the UNSC meeting on Ukraine”, in Ukraine at UN:

“Even if we look at the chronology of the reactions of propagandists, “officials” of the rushist regime regarding today’s events, it becomes clear: at first nothing happens, then it happens, but partially, and then Ukraine is to blame, but they, the occupiers, are very happy that the islands on which our defenders were allegedly based, are flooded,” said [Andriy] Yusov.

2023 June 7, “Defense Intelligence Exposes Russia’s Preparations For Terrorist Attack On Kakhovka HPP”, in Charter97:


rushist

Many here call Russian soldiers "orcs" or "Rushists," the latter a twist on "fascists."

2022 June 2, “Ukraine agonizes over Russian culture and language in its social fabric”, in NPR:


half-swastika

Calque of Russian полусвастика (polusvastika).

calque

полусвастика

Often this half-swastika is painted orange and black like St. George Ribbon, which is a symbol of the Great Victory – and it is everything you need to know about the power of propaganda that’s been poured into Russian ears for more than a decade.

2022 March 29, Boris Chaikin, “Z for Zombie: the power of Russia's propaganda machine”, in Vaine, archived from the original on 2024-06-11:

In fact, Russians themselves do not want to see foreign companies in their country - they started the campaign "Zamestim" (meaning "we will replace", where the first cyrylic letter was deliberately replaced with a half-swastika russia uses as their war symbol).

2022 June 9, Ilona Sologoub, “Those who stay: how companies justify their stay in russia”, in Ukrainska Pravda:

In particular, the Latin letter “Z” has come to stand more generally for Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine, being referred to as the “Zvastika” or “half-swastika” for its resemblance to a pared down version of the symbol of Nazi Germany.

2023 April 29, Alona Sonko, “Ukrainian government bans letters Z and V on car license plates, Interior Ministry clarifies rules”, in The New Voice of Ukraine:

I, of course, tried to explain a lot of things to the students: about the half-swastika, and about real goals, and about fascism as such, and it was nice that some of the students understood what they were talking about speech, but, as it turned out, there were also fighters for the purity of the ranks.

2024 February 23, Eugene Nasyrov, Olga Orlova, “Special academic operation. How the FSB has been persecuting scientists who signed a letter against the war with Ukraine for two years in a row”, in T-Invariant:

(derogatory) The Z letter used by Russian nationalists, usually to support Vladimir Putin or the Russian invasion of Ukraine.


Great Purge

(Soviet Union, historical) A campaign of extensive political purge and repression from 1936 to 1938, led by Joseph Stalin and executed by the NKVD to purge his political opponents.


Sralin

Borrowed from Russian Сра́лин (Srálin). See there for further information.

If the Soviet media crafted a cult of personality for Stalin which tried to place him beyond criticism, some ordinary citizens hung his portrait in the toilets, mocked his heavy Georgian accent, or replaced the “t” in his name with an “r”, making him “Sralin” – not the “Man of Steel”, but the “Man of Shit”.

2020 July 20, Jonathan Waterlow, It’s only a joke, comrade! Why even Stalin couldn’t kill the political quip:

(informal, vulgar, derogatory, sometimes humorous) Joseph Stalin.


Ukrofascism

After the Maidan some of them also went downhill to epic trash, started writing about Ukrofascism and palling around with fighters in Donetsk, like Vitaly Leybin of Russki Reporter.

2018 December 22, Otar Dovzhenko, “Russian Liberal Media? No, Thank You”, in Detector Media:

The Russians killed you in 2014, spreading propaganda, ukrofascism, and other narratives.

2022 April 7, “Why “why us” questions appear from both sides of Russia – Ukraine war?”, in Ukraine Frontlines:

Both Dasha and her father, Alexander Dugin, could be the target,” Rogov said, drawing attention to the fact that Dugin was waging her own fight against “Ukrofascism and its Ango-Saxon^([sic]) masters.”

2022 August 21, admin_l6ma5gus, “In Zaporozhye, Dugina’s death was linked to Ukraine”, in Pledge Times:


Putinology

Putin’s recent ubiquity has brought great prominence to the practice of Putinology. This enterprise – the production of commentary and analysis about Putin and his motivations, based on necessarily partial, incomplete and sometimes entirely false information – has existed as a distinct intellectual industry for over a decade.

2017 February 22, Keith Gessen, “Killer, kleptocrat, genius, spy: the many myths of Vladimir Putin”, in The Guardian:

The study or analysis of Vladimir Putin (born 1952), Russian politician, president of Russia.


Great Terror

(Soviet Union, historical) Synonym of Great Purge


Yezhovshchina

Borrowed from Russian ежовщина (ježovščina). Named after Russian secret police official Nikolai Yezhov.

named-after

... Between the 1929-1930 purge and Yezhovshchina period in 1936-1939, there was a steady rooting out of writers too devoted to national sentiment. The anathema went even beyond this veil of tears, and in Azerbaydzhan the grave of the poet, Narym Narymanov, who had[…]

1956, Kenneth R. Whiting, Soviet Problems of Nationality and Industrial Management, page 18:

(historical) A period of intense political repression and mass purges in the Soviet Union during the late 1930s, particularly from 1937 to 1938.