January 30, 2026

Cheburlandia ~ Word of the Month


Cheburlandia ~ Word of the Month
Portion of a New Year's card featuring Cheburashka.

This is the first in a new monthly language column that will take the reins over from our long-running Survival Russian column in the magazine. Each month will focus on a word or phrase trending in Russian culture and society.


Чебурашка (Cheburashka), a character from a Soviet cartoon hit filmed in the late 1960s, was unlucky enough to be chosen as a symbol of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Participants in the so-called Special Military Operation (SVO in Russian) take knitted Cheburashka figures with them as talismans, sew on chevrons with his image, and even use the gruesome word “zacheburashivanie” (зачебурашивание - making someone to look like Cheburashka/be Сheburashka) as a synonym for “victory”.

All of this is not only disgusting, but also absurd and extremely sad, because the cartoon character is the complete opposite of belligerence and militarism - he is known for his huge, helpless ears, gentle voice, and tireless desire to find as many friends as possible. 

A table in a flea market showing items for sale.
A Tyumen flea market in 2023, showing the militarization of Cheburashka / RG72

Cheburashka has always been a meme hero, but in recent years he has increasingly appeared in the public sphere, usually in connection with outbreaks of unhealthy patriotism. In May 2025, a scandal erupted over “chebubu”, the nickname given to a version of the popular Japanese toy “labubu” that Russian companies began producing in something resembling a Cheburashka-like character. Upon learning of this, State Duma deputies demanded that Chebubu be immediately banned, as it is unacceptable to desecrate national treasures with bad toys that “promote destructive aesthetics and alien spiritual and moral values.” (But apparently it is not unacceptable to desecrate national treasures by using toys to glorify militarism...)

And in January 2026, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Culture proposed opening a Russian version of Disneyland called Чебурляндия (Cheburlandia).   

Such statements are usually just a good way to provoke hype, and perhaps the senator himself is well aware that the word Cheburlandia looks and sounds comical. On the one hand, it rhymes with various derogatory names for Russia, among which, for example, “Orkolandia.” On the other hand, it is on par with the very popular word Чебурнет (Cheburnet) – a mocking name for the Russian national internet – a closed, censored space where only Russian messengers and approved websites are available, cheburashing Russians with propaganda. 

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