According to the Ukrainian news agency Union, the author of the petition says that the historical name of Russia is Muscovy, which is why he recommends changing the words “Russian” to “Muscovit” and “Russian Federation” to “Moscow Federation”. .
“This name was used in Europe and some Asian languages. In many historical maps of the 16th and 19th centuries, created in Europe before and after the name change from the Moscow Kingdom to the Russian Empire, this name also appears,” argues the petition.
The author also points out that Russia has existed for 301 years since Tsar Peter I of Moscow proclaimed the Muscovite Empire as the ‘Russian Empire’ on October 22, 1721.
Volodymyr Zelensky pointed out today that the issue raised in the petition “requires a thorough examination based on the historical and cultural context and taking into account possible international legal consequences”.
The Ukrainian president added that he instructed Prime Minister Denis Shmihal to investigate and deepen the issue with scientific institutions.
Kiev’s proposal was strongly criticized by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who on his personal account on the social network Telegram “advised” Ukraine to change its name to the “Kingdom of Pigs” and “followers of Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian nationalist and Nazi collaborator.” “.
“The Nazi High Command in Kiev undertook to study the question of changing the name of Russia to Muscovy. Well, what to say? What is our answer? Certainly not Zozhlyandia (a derogatory nickname for Ukrainians). And only Malorossiya is the Schweinisch Bandera-Reich (Reich of Bandera’s Pig Followers”), in the Telegram. Published by Medvedev.
Bandera, considered a national hero by Kiev, led a nationalist movement during World War II, behind the killing of around 100,000 non-Ukrainian ethnic civilians in Volhynia, and collaborated with Nazi Germany’s occupation forces. Poland and Russia.
The former Russian president, known for his outrageous political views, was joined by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who said Zelensky’s plan “proves” that Moscow is “right every day.”
“Here is a new attempt to make Ukraine ‘anti-Russian’,” Zakharova wrote on her personal account on the same social network.
The idea of renaming the Russian Federation to Muscovy is not new in Ukraine.
Already in 2019, Nikita Podurev, Zelensky’s political adviser, presented a proposal in this regard, and later, journalist Idar Mujdabayev said that changing the name of Russia to Muscovy would have historical foundations.
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