special military operation

== English == === Etymology === Calque of Russian специа́льная вое́нная опера́ция (speciálʹnaja vojénnaja operácija), a phrase used by Vladimir Putin upon launching an attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2022, when he said he had "decided to launch a special military operation." === Pronunciation === See special, military, operation. === Noun === special military operation (plural special military operations) (euphemistic, idiomatic, neologism) A military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Synonyms: (initialism) SMO, (initialism) SVO For more quotations using this term, see Citations:special military operation. ==== Usage notes ==== In 2022, Russian president Putin used this word to describe his army's invasion of Ukraine; within Russia it is illegal to refer the invasion as a "war" or "invasion", so supporters of the Russian invasion of Ukraine often use this term to refer to that war. The use of this term instead of "war" is likely because wars of aggression are typically illegal under international law; in addition, directly mentioning "war" (and military mobilisation, etc) might cause Russians to panic (cf. the history of the 2022 Russian mobilization). ==== Translations ==== === See also === nonwar police action === References === === Further reading === special military operation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia