The article explores the role of language as a tool of modern Russian manipulative propaganda. It establishes that the language utilized by totalitarian regimes to shape an alternative reality is referred to as “Newspeak”, a term inspired by George Orwell’s novel “1984”. This artificial language serves the totalitarian system by creating a fabricated reality that benefits the propagandist. Modern Russian Newspeak is not a novel concept; while Orwell coined the term, the underlying idea predates him. Similar artificial languages were employed in the USSR and Nazi Germany to obscure the truth and conceal their crimes. Research indicates that the primary tactics for constructing Newspeak include altering the meanings of words, substituting concepts, stripping direct meanings from terms while reassigning new ones, and utilizing idiomatic expressions and bureaucratic language devoid of substantive information. The analysis demonstrates that contemporary Russian manipulative propaganda employs conceptual substitutions to advance its narratives toward Ukrainian, Russian, and Western audiences. This approach aims to obscure the truth, justify military aggression against Ukraine, downplay the severity of current events, and manipulate public sentiment within Russia. For instance, Russian propagandists refer to their war of aggression against Ukraine as a “special military operation,” characterize the seizure and occupation of Ukrainian territories as “liberation,” label the forced deportation of civilians from occupied areas to Russia as “evacuation,” and describe Ukrainians forcibly relocated to Russia as “refugees,” among others. The article also highlights the potential for future research to involve a comprehensive examination of contemporary Russian Newspeak in manipulative propaganda. This analysis could help in developing Ukrainian national counter-narratives and in conveying the truth to the world. Keywords: language, Newspeak, dialogicity, media, media text, Russian manipulative propaganda, concealment of truth, Den newspaper, full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, special military operation, cotton, refugees.
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