Ukraine moves to change Russia’s official name
Brady Knox
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The government of Ukraine made an official move to rename Russia to “Muscovy,” drawing outrage from Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky approved a petition, originally filed in November, calling for the renaming. The petition reached over 25,000 signatures, legally requiring Zelensky to respond. In a statement, he asked the prime minister to carefully review the required process and inquired whether it would be legally possible, according to Meduza.
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He said the issue “requires careful study on the level of historical and social context, as well as taking into account possible international legal consequences.”
The petition calls for “Russia” to be changed to “Muscovy,” “Russian” to be changed to “Muscovite,” and the “Russian Federation” to be changed to the “Muscovite Federation.” The change would take place in all government and educational documents, but it likely wouldn’t happen on an international scale.
“Muscovy” was the Latinized title given first to the Grand Duchy of Moscow, then to the Russian Tsardom after 1547, then the term gradually died out after Peter the Great officially declared the Russian Empire in 1721. Although used by western sources, “Muscovy” was never used by the Russians themselves.
Both Russia and Ukraine, as well as Belarus, have their historical origins in the medieval state of Kievan Rus. Following its splintering after the Mongol conquests in the 13th century, “Rus” evolved to “Russia” in the east, while those under Catholic Polish-Lithuanian dominance in the west came to be Latinized into “Ruthenia,” a term used to describe Ukrainians until the 20th century.
Ukrainian nationalists argue that “Russia” carries an imperial connotation, implicitly claiming all the lands of Kievan Rus, including modern-day Ukraine.
The term “Muscovite” is considered by Russians to be a slur, seen alongside the similar term “Moskal,” which has developed as a slur for Russians.
The announcement of Zelensky’s approval of the petition was met with hostility from the Kremlin.
“The Supreme Kiev Nazi instructed to work out the issue of renaming Russia to Muscovy. Well what can I say,” former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev wrote on Telegram. “Our answer? No, of course not Hohlandia. And certainly not Malorussia (Little Russia). Only Schweinisch Bandera-Reich. Exact!”
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“Hohlandia” is a play on “Hohol,” a Russian slur against Ukrainians; “Malorussia” refers to the historical title of Ukrainian areas in Medieval and Russian Imperial times; and Bandera refers to Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian nationalist leader during World War II.
Maria Zakharova, Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, decried the decision as another piece of evidence that the Ukrainian government is trying to turn the country “anti-Russia.”