Девайлдберизация – Word of the Month

The monthly language column that focuses on a word or phrase trending in Russian culture and society.

In recent months, Ukraine has focused on destroying Russian infrastructure and facilities critical to the country’s economy. Following a large number of successful strikes on oil refineries – which has led to a fuel crisis – the Ukrainian Armed Forces turned their efforts toward the logistic centers of major Russian e-commerce platforms.

Since the second half of July, the warehouses of Wildberries, the largest such company, have been subjected to drone strikes. Ukrainian authorities have justified the legitimacy of their strikes by pointing out that the Russian army uses Wildberries to acquire drone components, navigational equipment, body armor, and other military goods. It is, in a sense, a modern-day military supply depot.

By the end of August, more than 20 Wildberries facilities in various regions had been hit. There are no official figures on the platform’s losses, but experts estimate them at R100 – 200 billion. Wildberries continues to operate, but cannot function at the same scale or pace as previously. Some analytics predict that the firm will remain unprofitable for years to come: the marketplace’s revenue is falling, and sellers are moving to other platforms (a large part of the platform's activity is supplied by third-party sellers).

All of this is summed up by the evocative, newly-coined word девайлдберизация (dewildberrization), which might sound a bit clumsy if it weren’t for the way it echoes the vocabulary of Russian propaganda.

The Kremlin's originally stated goals for its War on Ukraine were “denazification” and “demilitarization” (денацификация and демилитаризация) The terms were once used in reference to Nazi Germany and, accordingly, implied that Ukraine was its successor. They were meant to provide some ideological justification for the war and to boost the morale of Russian soldiers. But, as they have become overused and lack any grounding in reality, they have become memes. By analogy, a large number of neologisms are being coined. For example, back in 2022, the explosions orchestrated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Crimean Bridge were mockingly dubbed демостовизацией (from мост – "bridge").  Or, elsewhere, one might read that, to end the war, "России необходима депутинизация" (Russia needs deputinizatsiya). But the most popular “de – zatsia” word this summer has undoubtedly been “девайлдберизация.”

And it means something more than simply removing Wildberries from the market or dealing it a major blow. After all, the main effect of девайлдберизация isn’t related to the company’s losses or even to delays in military shipments – it's the intrusion of the war into the Russians' daily lives. Previously, Wildberries made it easy to order any product and have it delivered anywhere in the country. Now, the inability to quickly get notebooks for school, a battery of the right size, or inexpensive clothing, serves as a constant reminder of the war to those who would prefer not to think about it.

Thus, девайлдберизация also means depriving society of its comforts and a growing anxiety far from the front lines.