Zelenskyy signs law banning place names associated with Russia
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a law "On the Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and the Decolonisation of Toponymy", establishing a ban on the distribution of symbols of Russian imperial policy throughout Ukraine.
Source: Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian parliament] website
Details: As of 21 April, Zelenskyy signed draft law No. 7253 "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Geographical Names" regarding the decolonisation of toponymy and streamlining the use of geographical names in settlements of Ukraine".
Corrected: The original version of the news said that Zelenskyy signed the law "On Geographical Names", which "prohibits geographical names associated with Russia."
In fact, we are talking about the final version of the law entitled "On the Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and the Decolonisation of Toponymy".
The news also discussed the essence of the draft law adopted in the first reading, after which it was significantly expanded and changed.
Updated: The law comes into force three months after its publication, during which time the Cabinet of Ministers must prepare a regulatory framework to implement its provisions.
Under the adopted law, the production, distribution and public use of symbols of Russian imperial policy in Ukraine are prohibited.
The symbols of Russian imperial policy include, in particular:
- monuments dedicated to persons who held senior positions in government and administrative bodies, political organisations, parties, armed formations of State entities of Russia and who participated in or contributed to the implementation of Russian imperial policy;
- monuments dedicated to individuals who publicly supported, glorified or justified Russian imperial policies, called for Russification or Ukrainophobia;
- names of geographical objects and objects of local toponymy in honour of the persons mentioned above or names in honour of Russian cities and other geographical, historical and cultural objects of Russia;
- flags and anthems of Russian state entities.
In order to comply with the requirements of this law, state authorities and local self-government bodies must remove from public spaces monuments dedicated to persons involved in the implementation of Russian imperial policy, as well as rename streets, squares, parks, squares, and geographical objects that contain symbols of Russian imperial policy.
Legal entities, political parties, and other associations of citizens with symbols of Russian imperial policy in their names or statutory documents must bring their founding documents, names, and/or symbols into compliance with this law within one month from the date of entry into force of the law.
In addition, the law provides that geographical features with Russified names (in particular, Yuzhne, Sievierodonetsk, Yuzhnoukrainsk) must bring their names in line with Ukrainian spelling or return the historical name.
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