OMNICIDE AS AN IDEA AND RUSSIA'S "SUPER-TASK" IN THE WAR AGAINST UKRAINE: A PHILOSOPHICAL VISION

Abstract

Introduction. The article attempts to philosophically analyze the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine through the concept of “omnicide” (destruction of everything), as well as raising the question of the possibility of considering omnicide as an idea and “super-task” of Russia in this war. The aim and tasks. The aim of the article is a philosophical vision of omnicide and its components as an idea and a primary task of Russia in the war against Ukraine. Research methods. The theoretical and methodological basis of the article consists of philosophical and general scientific research methods: the phenomenological method, the comparative method, etymological analysis makes it possible to clarify the genesis of the terms omnicide, ecocide, urbicide and others. The semantic method helps clarify the relationship between a specific concept (word) and what it symbolizes in a specific context. Research results. The article analyzes how various forms of destruction, in particular ecocide, urbicide, linguicide and culturicide, are manifested in modern war, and justifies the possibility of considering them as interconnected manifestations of a destructive process. It is shown that such practices go beyond the achievement of specific military-political goals and can be interpreted as those aimed at undermining the natural, social and cultural conditions of existence. In this context, the concept of “omnicide” allows us to more broadly outline the nature of the Russian Federation’s military aggression as a complex and multidimensional process of “destruction of everything” on the territory of Ukraine. Discussion. The problems of war and related processes and phenomena were addressed in the works of domestic and foreign scholars. The problem of omnicide and its components, in particular, urbicide in relation to the settlements of the Kherson region, was reflected in the previous publications of one of the authors. Conclusions. It is concluded that the concept of “omnicide,” understood as the practice of total destruction of nature and the socio-cultural environment, in combination with the idea of Russia’s “overarching task” in the war against Ukraine, opens a fundamentally new dimension for the philosophical understanding of military aggression. This perspective enables a reinterpretation of military aggression in its contemporary form.