On Thursday, Russian lawmakers approved a bill that would make it unlawful to “discredit” anyone taking part in the conflict in Ukraine on Russia’s side. This includes the Russian military.
The bill aims to include soldiers working for Russia’s growing number of private military companies, like the Wagner Group, in the laws that make it illegal to discredit the Russian Armed Forces.
Deputies from the State Duma presented the bill out of the blue on Wednesday as changes to two bills that had little to do with each other and were already scheduled to be voted on in the lower house of the Russian parliament.
If the changes are made official, people who do “public acts aimed at discrediting volunteer formations, organizations or individuals” that help the Russian Armed Forces could get up to seven years in jail.
The suggested changes would also make the worst punishment for breaking the law against spreading “false” information about the army even worse.
If someone is found guilty of “spreading fake information” about the army or a volunteer military formation, they could spend up to five years in jail instead of the current three years.
The largest fine would go from 700,000 rubles ($9,250) to 1.5 million rubles ($19,830) under the new law.
If spreading “false information” is seen as having “grave consequences,” the new law says that people who break it could get up to 15 years in jail.
The bill must now pass its third reading in the State Duma on March 14. After that, it will go to the top house of parliament to be approved and then to the president to be signed.