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My question is addressed to those with excellent knowledge of British English.

This morning I read this sentence on the BBC website:

The last remaining families in the Donetsk region have been told to evacuate as Russia slowly advance.

My question is about the treatment of "Russia" as a plural.

I know that in Britain, people say things like "The Government are trying ..." or "Russia are advancing the ball well."

But does this particular sentence on the BBC website not strike readers as sounding as though it's about the Russian soccer team rather than its army? I'd like to know if this could be considered an error in some sense, or if it sounds perfectly normal to British ears.

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    This is very related.
    – fev
    Commented Aug 1, 2022 at 15:06
  • @fev Hi, Thanks for that, but there's nothing there that I'm not aware of. The examples given are all of a country name being used in the plural for a sports team - a usage I'm well aware of and mentioned in my question - not an army. My question is whether this specific usage is odd to British readers.
    – Dave
    Commented Aug 1, 2022 at 15:09
  • @fev I've edited the title of my post to better reflect the question.
    – Dave
    Commented Aug 1, 2022 at 15:19
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    The BBC seems to use "Russia advances" elsewhere, e.g. "Russia advances, Ukraine pulls back", "Russia advances in battle for Severodonetsk". It might be a mistake?
    – Stuart F
    Commented Aug 1, 2022 at 15:59
  • I never said it was a duplicate, Dave. Just related. I am not a native speaker, but live in the UK. However, I think it is better for a native to answer abut such nuances. From what I hear around me, it also depends on every particular speaker. If they envisage Russia as a military power (sg) or as an army of soldiers (pl, collective noun).
    – fev
    Commented Aug 1, 2022 at 16:00

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