“Everyone Will Scream from Pain in the Same Language”: Linguistic Analyses of Anti-War Russian Letters

This chapter examines how Russian speakers resist state propaganda in Anti-War Russian Letters (AWRL) written in the first two weeks after the Russian-Ukrainian war broke out. Sixty-five letters were analysed utilising a mixed methodology, including non- and -computational corpus analyses and topic modelling. The findings demonstrate that the ongoing military conflict is considered “war” instead of the Russian propagandistic euphemism “special military operation”. This event is perceived in isolation from previous wars involving Russia, which is reflected in associations and modifiers used in letters; they are highly anthropocentric and accuse Russia of invasion. Equally, Ukrainians are called a “fraternal nation”, hence, the current war is fratricidal and unwarranted. Finally, isolation and degradation of institutes are mentioned as the most probable consequences for Russia. The results highlight the way people resist the state’s propaganda, distancing themselves from historically and culturally determined military conflicts with Russian participation, with the invasion of Ukraine becoming a novel tragic chapter in Russian history.