DistantNews
Support us
'Meat,' 'maid,' and 'zero out': Slang allows Russians to speak of the war in Ukraine
🇨🇿 Czech Republic /Culture & Society

'Meat,' 'maid,' and 'zero out': Slang allows Russians to speak of the war in Ukraine

From iDNES · () Czech

Translated from Czech, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Context piece
  • Russian soldiers are using new slang terms to describe the realities of the war in Ukraine.
  • Terms like 'vynulovat' (to zero out), 'sluzhebka' (a derogatory term for a female soldier or possibly a specific role), and 'myaso' (meat) reflect the brutal violence and corruption within the army.
  • This military slang allows soldiers to communicate about the conflict in ways that contradict the official Russian narrative.

A new lexicon of military slang is emerging among Russian soldiers, offering a starkly different account of the war in Ukraine than the one presented by the Kremlin. Researchers Alexandra Arkhipova, a social anthropologist, and Yuriy Lapshin, a psychologist, identified 77 new terms in a study of 6,739 letters. These expressions, such as 'vynulovat' (to zero out, likely referring to killing or destroying), 'sluzhebka' (a term with potentially dehumanizing connotations), and 'myaso' (meat, implying expendability), reveal the brutal violence inflicted by commanders and the pervasive corruption within the armed forces. The slang is not confined to the front lines but is also used back home, providing a coded language to discuss a conflict that the Russian regime officially denies or downplays. This linguistic phenomenon offers a critical lens into the lived experiences and perceptions of soldiers grappling with the harsh realities of the battlefield, starkly contrasting with official propaganda.

vynulovat

— Russian soldiersA slang term used by Russian soldiers to describe the realities of the war, potentially meaning to 'zero out' or eliminate.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by iDNES in Czech. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog