In Russia, the talk is of 'war' - even from Putin

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a video conference meeting to discuss agricultural issues including spring field operations in Moscow, Russia, May 18, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - For more than 15 months Russia has been fighting a war in Ukraine that the Kremlin refused to call a war - but that is changing: President Vladimir Putin is using the word "war" more often.

When Putin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, he called it "a special military operation" - a euphemism the Kremlin, Russian ministers and state media mostly stuck to, even coining a new Russian acronym, the "SVO".