The Russian government has backed a new law that would make maps that question the country’s official “territorial integrity” considered extremist material and punishable by law. The government news agency TASS, which broke the news, said the new amendment was introduced after those who proposed it indicated that some of the maps circulating in Russia called into question the “territorial affiliation” of Crimea and the Kuril Islands. and other images that cast doubt on the territorial integrity of Russia” will be categorized as extremist materials.
Russia’s largely opaque anti-extremism law allows the Kremlin to tighten its grip on dissent. The law applies, among other things, to religious organizations, journalists and their materials, as well as to corporate activities.
TASS reported that the new amendment was introduced after its authors indicated that some maps distributed in Russia cast doubt on the “territorial affiliation” of Crimea and the Kuril Islands.
Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014, but Ukraine and many countries have dismissed the move as illegal. Since then, Ukrainians and their government have repeatedly objected to world maps showing Crimea as part of Russian territory.
On the other hand, Russian politicians have begun discussing the punishment of Russians who oppose the war in Ukraine and who, as former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev put it, “desire to save their homeland.” Medvedev, one of Putin’s most prominent allies, said that “in times of war” there are special rules for dealing with traitors.
