The Verkhovna Rada today, March 21, adopted bill No. 7253 “On the condemnation and prohibition of propaganda of Russian imperial policy in Ukraine and the decolonization of toponymy.”
This bill criminalizes and condemns the Russian imperial policy, prohibits its propaganda and symbols, determines what these symbols are, who, how and in what time frame removes them from public space. People’s Deputy Volodymyr Viatrovych announced this on his Facebook page.
According to the deputy, the adoption of this law was “a decisive step towards the cleansing of Ukraine from the markers of the” Russian world “and the complete decolonization of our public space.”
This document is no less important than the law on decommunization we adopted in 2015,” Vyatrovich emphasizes. – After the law is signed by the president and enters into force, the liberation of Ukrainian cities and villages from the names and monuments imposed by Russia will become comprehensive and irreversible and will take place within a clear legal framework.
248 elected representatives voted for this bill in the second reading and in general.
The explanatory note of the bill notes that in the conditions of war, toponymy is perceived as a weapon and Russian aggression forces Ukrainians to conduct an “inventory of historical toponymic heritage” in order to eliminate pro-Russian regional identity and assert Ukrainian identity.
The question – where do Piterskaya, Moskovskaya or Pravda streets lead – is not rhetorical in today’s Ukrainian realities, over the years of armed aggression, occupation of our territories and the recent new treacherous attack with the aim of “demilitarization and denazification” Ukrainians clearly saw the goal and final stop of this – the authors of the bill note .
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.