Meanings
plural special military operations
- euphemisticidiomaticneologismA military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
China could be planning its own Russia-style “special military operation” in Taiwan, an island that the Chinese Communist Party insists is Chinese territory, according to reports from China.
2022 June 17, Jack Buckby, “A Chinese Invasion of Taiwan Could Unleash an Economic Disaster”, in RealClearDefense, archived from the original on 17 Jun 20225 more examples
By undermining the effectiveness of the sanctions regime being imposed on Russia, China clearly hopes to weaken the compliance mechanism that keeps that order working and under American control. Beijing probably also has an eye on blunting the effectiveness of this particular mechanism so that it can’t be effectively deployed against China in the event that Beijing feels compelled to conduct its own “special military operation” against Taiwan.
2022 March 25, Andrew Latham, “Three reasons why the China-Russia alliance is deepening”, in The Hill, archived from the original on 25 Mar 2022China's "special military operation" will not take place now. Before that happens, China would have to carry out at least one major military maneuver with live fire in exercises that could end up taking place tomorrow according to a few posts ago highlighting the tuning between 2022 and 1995/1996.
2022 August 2, Suetham, “Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis”, in SinoDefenceForum, archived from the original on 08 Sep 2022Medvedev cited these supposed “Western analysts” in order to propagate Russia’s colonial fantasy: envisioning Ukraine’s territory reduced to just the Kyiv region, while the remainder of Ukraine would be divided among Russia, Poland, Romania, and Hungary. Such a narrative recalls Putin’s February 2022 speech questioning Ukraine’s statehood and accompanies intensifying Russian calls to expand its “special military operation” to realize its imperial map.
2022 August 24, “Russia’s War on Ukraine: Six Months of Lies, Implemented”, in United States Department of State, archived from the original on 24 Aug 2022Beijing expresses understanding of reasons that made Russia begin the special military operation for protection of Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters Monday.
2022 September 5, “China expresses understanding of reasons behind Russia’s special military operation — aide”, in TASS, archived from the original on 05 Sep 2022When asked if Beijing considers a special military operation against Taiwan possible, Liu Xiaoming said that the Chinese government reserves the right to take all necessary measures to ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country.
2023 April 27, “CHINESE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE LIU XIAOMING GAVE AN INTERVIEW TO TASS”, in Center for International Security and Strategy Tsinghua University, archived from the original on 06 May 2023
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Russianспециа́льная вое́нная опера́ция
- Englishspecial military operation
2022, Calque of Russian специа́льная вое́нная опера́ция (speciálʹnaja vojénnaja operácija), a phrase used by Vladimir Putin upon launching an attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2022, when he said he had "decided to launch a special military operation."
More words from Russian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic عَمَلِيَّةٌ عَسْكَرِيَّةٌ خَاصَّةٌ
- عَمَلِيَّةٌ عَسْكَرِيَّةٌ خَاصَّةٌ (ʕamaliyyatun ʕaskariyyatun ḵāṣṣatun)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Bengali বিশেষ সামরিক অভিযান
- বিশেষ সামরিক অভিযান (biśeś śamrik obhijan)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Bulgarian специа́лна вое́нна опера́ция
- специа́лна вое́нна опера́ция (speciálna voénna operácija)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Chinese Mandarin 特別軍事行動 /特别军事行动
- 特別軍事行動 /特别军事行动 (tèbié jūnshì xíngdòng)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Czech speciální vojenská operace
- speciální vojenská operacea military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Danish særlig militær operation
- særlig militær operationa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Dutch speciale militaire operatie
- speciale militaire operatiea military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Estonian spetsiaalne sõjaline operatsioon
- spetsiaalne sõjaline operatsioona military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Finnish sotilaallinen erikoisoperaatio
- sotilaallinen erikoisoperaatioa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
French opération militaire spéciale
- opération militaire spécialea military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
German Sondermilitäroperation, Spezial-Militäroperation
- Sondermilitäroperationa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Spezial-Militäroperationa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Greek ειδική στρατιωτική επιχείρηση
- ειδική στρατιωτική επιχείρηση (eidikí stratiotikí epicheírisi)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Hebrew מבצע צבאי מיוחד
- מבצע צבאי מיוחד (mivtsá ts'va'í m'yukhád)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Hindi विशिष्ट सैन्य अभियान
- विशिष्ट सैन्य अभियान (viśiṣṭ sainya abhiyān)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Hungarian különleges hadművelet, különleges katonai művelet
- különleges hadműveleta military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- különleges katonai műveleta military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Icelandic sértæk hernaðaraðgerð
- sértæk hernaðaraðgerða military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Indonesian operasi militer khusus
- operasi militer khususa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Irish oibríocht mhíleata speisialta
- oibríocht mhíleata speisialtaa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Italian operazione militare speciale
- operazione militare specialea military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Japanese 特別軍事作戦
- 特別軍事作戦 (tokubetsu gunji sakusen)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Korean 특수군사작전
- 특수군사작전 (teuksugunsajakjeon)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Latvian īpaša militāra operācija
- īpaša militāra operācijaa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Lithuanian ypatinga karine operacija
- ypatinga karine operacijaa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Malay operasi ketenteraan khas
- operasi ketenteraan khasa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Norwegian Bokmål militær spesialoperasjon
- militær spesialoperasjona military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Polish specjalna operacja wojskowa
- specjalna operacja wojskowaa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Romanian operațiune militară specială
- operațiune militară specialăa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Russian специа́льная вое́нная опера́ция, спецопера́ция
- специа́льная вое́нная опера́ция (speciálʹnaja vojénnaja operácija)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- спецопера́ция (specoperácija)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- СВО (SVO)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Slovak špeciálna vojenská operácia
- špeciálna vojenská operáciaa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Spanish operación militar especial
- operación militar especiala military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Swedish militär specialoperation
- militär specialoperationa military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Tagalog espesyal na operasyong militar
- espesyal na operasyong militara military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Thai ปฏิบัติการพิเศษทางทหาร
- ปฏิบัติการพิเศษทางทหาร (bpà-dtì-bàt-gaan pí-sèet taang tá-hǎan)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Turkish özel askerî operasyon
- özel askerî operasyona military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Ukrainian спеціа́льна воє́нна опера́ція, спецопера́ція
- спеціа́льна воє́нна опера́ція (speciálʹna vojénna operácija)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- спецопера́ція (specoperácija)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- СВО (SVO)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Urdu خُصُوصی فَوجی آپِریشَن
- خُصُوصی فَوجی آپِریشَن (xusūsī faujī āpireśan)a military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Vietnamese chiến dịch quân sự đặc biệt, hành động quân sự đặc biệt
- chiến dịch quân sự đặc biệta military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- hành động quân sự đặc biệta military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- nhiệm vụ quân sự đặc biệta military campaign resembling a war; especially the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Cite this entry
special military operation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/special%20military%20operation
“special military operation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/special%20military%20operation. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “special military operation,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/special%20military%20operation.
Source: special military operation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.