Ukrainian officials, from President Zelenskyy on down, have become more forthright in their descriptions of the war with Russia.

“An orc squad has been defeated.” This is not a reference to J R R Tolkien’s race of evil Lord Sauron supporters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy; who had foul breath and malformed looks.
This is a paragraph from an official report from Ukraine’s defence ministry; and it’s part of the ever-expanding warfare jargon employed by top officials, the military, and the media.
The implication is straightforward, especially in light of recent allegations of marauding soldiers killing civilians, indiscriminate bombardment, and cruise missiles gone astray.

Tetiana Chursina, a sales clerk in Kyiv; whose second cousin spent weeks in her basement in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, said, “They’re orcs because we don’t consider them human.”