Ukrainian president instructed prime minister to consider change; Former Russian president suggests calling Ukraine ‘pig kingdom’
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has considered examining the content of an electronic petition proposing to change the name of Russia to “Muscovia” in Ukrainian.
According to the petition, which already has more than 25,000 signatures, the country’s historical name would be “Moscow.” The change also applies to the terms “Russian”, which should be renamed “Muscovites”, and “Russian Federation”, which should be called “Moscow Federation”.
“This name was used in Europe and in some Asian languages. Many historical maps from the 16th to the 19th centuries, which were made in Europe before and after the renaming of the Kingdom of Moscow to the Russian Empire, also bore this name.
In his statement, Zelenskyy noted that the petition “needs to be carefully drafted both with regard to the historical and cultural context and with regard to possible international legal consequences”.
Ukraine’s president tasked the country’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, with analyzing the proposal “extensively” with the country’s scientific community.
The study on changing the name of Russia in Ukrainian did not go down well with the country’s authorities. Former President Dmitry Medvedev has suggested calling Ukraine the “Kingdom of Pigs” as the country’s response.
“The Nazi leader in Kiev ordered that an official renaming of Russia as Muscovy should be considered. What would our answer be? Also rename Ukraine, but not Ukraine and certainly not Little Russia. Only for Empire of Pigs,” Medvedev wrote on his Telegram profile.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also disagreed with Zelenskyy’s order, saying the case showed Russian arguments.
“The bunker proves us right every day. Here is further evidence of an attempt to create “antiRussia” out of Ukraine,” Zakharova wrote this Saturday (March 11, 2023).