Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova made a propaganda statement about the transformation of Ukraine into “anti-Russia.”
“The man in the bunker (that Zakharova calls Zelenskyy – ed.) proves us right every day. Here is more evidence of an attempt to create an ‘anti-Russia’ Ukraine,” she wrote on Telegram on March 11.
Russia’s Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, reacted to the possible return of the historical title to Russia. He returned to the debunked trope of“Nazism” in Ukraine.
“The Supreme Nazi of Kyiv instructed to work out the issue of renaming Russia to Muscovy. Well, what can I say… Our answer? No, of course not Khokhlandia (‘khokhol’ is commonly used as an ethnic slur for Ukrainians – ed.). And especially not Little Russia. Only Schweinisch Bandera-Reich. Exakt! (German: Swine Bandera Empire. Exactly! – ed.),” Medvedev said, showing off his knowledge of “history” and German.
Zelenskyy previously considered a petition proposing to rename Russia as Moskovia, Russian to Moskovian, and the Russian Federation to the Moscow Federation. The popular petition highlighted that “the historical name of Russia is Muscovy.”
In response to the petition, Zelenskyy instructed Shmyhal to comprehensively work out this issue with scientists.
Muscovy, based off of current capital Moscow, is the historical name of Russia and its state entities: the Moscow principality, kingdom, and empire. It was used in most European languages and some Asian languages. It appears on most European maps from the 16th-19th centuries.
In the Ukrainian language, the terms Moskivshchyna and Moskovshchyna were also used.