Russia insists that it is not at 鈥渨ar鈥� in Ukraine, instead referring to its violent campaign as a 鈥渟pecial military operation.鈥� Under a harsh new law, Russians now face up to 15 years in prison if they spread 鈥渇ake鈥� reports and call the conflict what it is: a 鈥渨ar鈥� and 鈥渋nvasion.鈥�
鈥淭he effort to call this not a war is just the tip of the iceberg of what seems to be the Russian leadership鈥檚 efforts to deny this war鈥檚 existence to the Russian people,鈥� Dr. Timothy Sayle told CTVNews.ca.
Sayle is an assistant professor of history and the director of the University of Toronto鈥檚 international relations program who has written extensively about NATO and post-World War Two Europe.
鈥淲hen we see massed armoured formations being destroyed by anti-tank missiles, when we see fighter jets and attack helicopters in the sky, we鈥檙e so far past the line of whether this is a war or not,鈥� he said from Toronto. 鈥淲e refer to these events as wars, because we know wars when we see them, but there are domestic, political and sometimes legal reasons as to why the states waging them refuse to use that word.鈥�
To start, Sayle believes Russian leadership expected a swift campaign鈥攏ot stiff Ukrainian resistance.
鈥淭he war has just gone unexpectedly catastrophically for the Russians,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 expecting that they would have to keep a war secret, and they very much have a much larger war than I think they ever wanted.鈥�
As the Ukrainian conflict intensifies, Sayle says Russian President Vladimir Putin also likely wants to avoid comparisons with the Second World War.
鈥淭here is Russian memory and legend about just how horrible war is for Russia and for all people,鈥� Sayle said. 鈥淭he word 鈥榳ar鈥� has so much baggage attached to it.鈥�
Russia however is not the first country to launch large-scale military operations and claim it鈥檚 not a war. As an early example, Sayle points to what鈥檚 now referred to as the Korean War, which began in 1950.
鈥淭he United States and its allies were very careful, just five years after the end of the Second World War, not to refer to this as a war,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚t was actually often referred to as a 鈥榩olice action.鈥� Of course, it was very much a war, and no one wanted to be reminded that these powers were back at war.鈥�
Sayle gives the 鈥渓ong and gruelling鈥� Vietnam War as another example. More than two million American men were drafted during the bloody conflict, yet no formal declaration of war was ever made.
鈥淎 declaration of war has to come from Congress, and it鈥檚 been presidents who鈥檝e chosen to take the United States to war,鈥� Sayle said of the decades following the Second World War.
Sayle notes countries fighting conventional wars are also supposed to be bound by the rules of conflict outlined in the Geneva Convention.
Russia said it dispatched 鈥減eacekeepers鈥� when it occupied the separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. 鈥淧eacekeepers鈥� was also the word Russia used for the forces it deployed to quash anti-government protests in Kazakhstan this January.
鈥淚 do recognize this as a pattern in international relations of states being very careful about how they talk about war and their role in conflict,鈥� Sayle said. 鈥淢any states have learned to find other phrases to describe their actions.鈥�
With files from the Associated Press
