The Russian authorities replace the concepts, calling wars different terms. «The war in Ukraine is called a "special military operation", - said Alexander Cherkasov, member of the CDI «Memorial». - The first war in Chechnya was described by the federal authorities as "the operation to disarm illegal gangs and restore constitutional order", and the second as a "counter-terrorism operation". The war with Georgia in 2008 is a "peace enforcement operation"».
In addition, even in Syria, the Russian army carried out a «military operation», the official name of which is «special tasks in the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic».
«Well, and in 2022, Russia launched a war in Ukraine, calling it a «special military operation», - Cherkasov added. He also noted that these substitutions did not in any way prevent the international courts from drawing legal conclusions with appropriate consequences.
