Kremlin’s Restricted Coverage of Ukraine War Giving Rise to Urban Legends and Use of Military Jargon among Russians, Arkhipova Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 7 – One of the consequences of the Putin regime’s restrictions on coverage of Putin’s war in Ukraine and its consequences has been the spread of urban legends about what is taking place and the use of military jargon, often out of context, to suggest familiarity with the situation and show support, Aleksandra Arkhipova says.

            The independent Moscow social anthropologist who produces the (Non) Entertainment Anthropology telegram channel (t.me/anthro_fun) has examined 250,000 reposts of such legends on VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, and Telegram channels since the start of the war (semnasem.org/articles/2024/08/07/voennye-legendy).

            Arkhipova says that two of the most widespread urban legends about the war are stories that Russians taken prisoner there have been castrated and that Russian officials put pictures of only of those who have already died on billboards. The latter has prompted many Russian women whose husbands or sons are listed as MIAs to search billboards for information.

            But there are many others, including tales about the Americans and Ukrainians spreading poisons and explosives into Russia, developing bacteriological weapons that kill Russians but no one else, and even telephone calls to apartments when only children are at home telling them to turn on the gas and thus cause explosions.

            Many of these stories are taken from older urban legends about other conflicts, but some simply reflect distortions that are introduced as stories are handed from one source to another. Noteworthy is the fact that they are being spread both by supporters of Putin and his war and by his and the conflict’s opponents.

            Also widespread is the penetration of military jargon into everyday life. On the one hand, Arkhipova says, this reflects the risks of talking about horrible things directly and even using such terminology as a kind of Aesopian language. But on the other, it is useful for many, including officials, to show their support for and even identity with those fighting in Ukraine.