"Special military operation"[a] (also "special operation", and abbreviated as "SMO" or "SVO", or Russian: спецопера́ция, romanized: spetsoperatsiya, Ukrainian: спецопера́ція) is an official term used by the Russian government and pro-Russian sources to denote the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1][2][3][4] It is widely considered to be a euphemism created to minimize and obfuscate the true nature of the full-fledged war started by Russia, and to claim Russian victory in the operation no matter the results.[5][6][7][8]
The expression appears prominently in the public address by President of Russia Vladimir Putin titled "On conducting a special military operation", which the Russian leader released on 24 February 2022.
The term "special military operation" has also been widely used in Ukrainian media in specific contexts, generally written in scare quotes, which highlight the psychologically artificial nature of the expression. Thus, the expression becomes applied in the context of describing the Russian government's actions negatively.[5]
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"Special military operation" has been Russia's preferred term for the invasion of Ukraine which it launched on 24 February 2022
"Special military operation" is the term the Kremlin uses to describe its war against Ukraine
This year, he called Russia's soldiers "our heroes," but did not mention Ukraine by name and did not refer to the "special military operation" - his term for the war his invasion unleashed in February 2022
On February 24, Vladimir Putin launched the Russian military on what he termed a 'special military operation,' his euphemism for a massive invasion of Ukraine.