PRESS RELEASE
Ukraine Has Adopted Several Severe Anti-Russia Policies in the Past Weeks
June 14, 2017 (EIRNS)—Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko has signed a number of anti-Russian bills into law, overtly provocational to the Ukrainian people and backing the ultra-nationalist policies of the neo-nazis.
On May 16, the government imposed sanctions to block Russian media and online networks from operating in the country, including VKontakte, described as the nation’s most popular social network. Already, sanctions had been imposed on the Russian search giant Yandex and several Russian state and private television channels.
On June 12, Poroshenko signed into law a bill banning the use of the Ribbon of St. George, a symbol of victory in World War II (the "Great Patriotic War"), which is commonly used in commemorative celebrations in Russia and throughout the former Soviet Union. Sputnik reported that the law makes the carrying, manufacturing, or promoting of the ribbon punishable by a fine of about $100, and repeat ’offenders’ face more severe penalties, up to and including arrest.
Last week, Sputnik reported, the government tightened language quotas (Ukrainian over Russian) on shows and movies broadcast by Ukrainian television, while a week earlier, officials announced that Kiev had worked out the legal mechanisms for introducing a visa regime with Russia,
"a decision which Moscow said would have catastrophic consequences for the country’s economy, since it is highly dependent on remittances from Ukrainians living and working in Russia."
