Politically incorrect English

Did you know that Russian can be translated into two different meanings in the Russian language?

One meaning of Russian refers to ethnicity of Russian people which stands for русский /roossky/. The other meaning refers to citizens of Russia as a country which is россияний /rossianin/. Consequently, the country is called Россия /Rossia/. While the Russian language preserves this difference, the English language uses ethnic meaning of Russian (roosky) to denote both. Why ethnic? Because English letter Uu has for Russians just one sound - /u/ - not /ʌ/. The same destiny had another Russian word spelled with Latin alphabet Sputnik, which I heard on TV pronounced via /ʌ/ through in Russian it is pronounced /spootnik/.

Anyway, Russian coming from double o, i.e. roossky, hints the name of an ancient country Rus via /u/ which is best preserved in the name of my country Belarus. It is really pronounced via /u/ in English, Belarusian and Russian.

Update.

Finally, an inquisitive reader might ask: "But why all the fuss? Doesn't the word Belarus actually mean White Russia, if you translate it literally?" This is a widespread misconception. Rus refers to the Eastern Slavic lands that nowadays belong mostly to Belarus and Ukraine. There is a Latin term for Rus which has been used in English scholarly works as well: Ruthenia. So, etymologically, the word Belarus means "Ruthenia Alba" or "White Ruthenia." Indeed, for centuries Russian historians have tried to confuse the situation by equating Ruthenian with Russian. But in Belarusian language there is a clear distinction between ruski (refering to Ruthenia) and rasiejski (refering to Russia). Unfortunately, in many other languages there is no special word for Ruthenia (Rus), so this differentiation may be difficult. But, essentially, it must be clear that "Belarus" does not mean "White Russia", but rather "White Ruthenia." For further reading I would like to recommend a great book by Ales Biely The Chronicles of White Rus' - Chronicon Russiae Albae, published in 2000 in Belarusian language.

Source: Pravapis.org