The corresponding amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses were adopted by the lower house of parliament on May 25 in two readings at once – the second and the third. One of the authors of the bill, deputy Vasily Piskarev, called such cards part of the hybrid war of the West against Russia.
Back in December 2022, Piskarev drew attention to the fact that maps began to be actively distributed in Russia, where the territorial affiliation of Crimea, the Kuril Islands and other Russian territories was disputed.
“It is especially dangerous when such materials are designed for a children’s audience, as was the case with children’s photo wallpapers sold in one of the popular retail chains, where Crimea was designated as part of Ukraine,” the parliamentarian wrote in his Telegram channel.
According to him, such cases should be stopped. This is exactly what the bill was prepared for. It involves punishment for distributors of “wrong” maps of the Russian Federation (for example, without Crimea or new regions).
Citizens for this are waiting for a fine or 15 days behind bars. And legal entities can be fined up to 1 million rubles, RIA Novosti reported.
At the same time, no one will be punished for cards that were issued before the adoption of the law. Like the authors of textbooks with such maps that appeared before the expansion of the country’s territory, Rossiyskaya Gazeta noted.
But for unflattering statements about the Russian army, citizens with acquired citizenship of the Russian Federation may well lose it. This law was approved at the end of April 2023.