Russian lawmakers on Friday approved legislation providing up to 15 years in jail for any publication of fake news about the Russian armed forces, one week after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
The bill, adopted after a third reading, sets out jail terms of varying lengths and fines against people who publish “knowingly false information” about the military, with harsher penalties to hit when dissemination is deemed to have serious consequences.
On 24 February Russia started a special military operation in Ukraine after authorities in the Donbass People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk appealed to Moscow for assistance following repeated shelling of their territories by Ukrainian forces.
Russian President Putin explained that a key goal of the operation is to “demilitarize and de-Nazify” Ukraine and thus eliminate a threat to Russia’s national security.
Source: Agencies
