Former Russian President proposed a new name for Ukraine

 The move came shortly after Ukraine's President Zelensky announced that he was considering a proposal for a new name for Russia, Moscovia.

According to RT, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, former President Dmitry Medvedev said that Ukraine should be called "Bandera-Reich".

His proposal comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked his government to consider a proposal to change the name Russia (Russia) to Moscovia, an unofficial designation centuries ago.

On March 10, Zelensky instructed the authorities to "carefully study" the proposal to officially change the name of Russia to Moscovia.

The move comes after a petition claimed that by using the word Russia, Ukraine was agreeing to a claim that Russia was a direct descendant of Kievan Rus, a medieval country that both Russia and Ukraine both claim to be the origin of their countries. Many Ukrainian nationalists consider their country to be the only true heir to Kievan Rus.

In a statement on March 10, President Zelensky said he had asked Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal to fully handle the above petition. This application has gathered the necessary 25,000 signatures of support to be considered by the government.

The Ukrainian president added that this issue needs to be carefully resolved both from the historical and cultural context, as well as from the perspective of possible international legal consequences, and must involve the participation of organizations. science.

The name Moscovia dates back to the time of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and was historically used by some authors to describe the Russian state.

A day later, on March 11, Mr. Medvedev, who served as Russia's president from 2008 to 2012, and currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, responded to Ukraine's move in an article. Post on my Telegram channel. “Our response?… Only Schweinisch Bandera-Reich,” wrote Mr. Medvedev.

Mr. Medvedev is said to be referring to the fact that some Ukrainian politicians idolize Stepan Bandera, a World War II leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). The Russian side alleges that Bandera collaborated with Adolf Hitler's government during the early stages of Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. He was later captured by the Germans and imprisoned for disagreements over Ukraine's future. After the war, Mr. Bandera fled to West Germany and was assassinated in 1959.

However, Mr. Bandera and his supporters are celebrated as heroes in modern Ukraine, with streets and buildings named after them. Nationalists annually organize torch relays on Bandera's birthday in Kiev and other cities.

In recent years, Ukrainian authorities have renamed thousands of places they believe are associated with Russia or the Soviet Union. This operation was further intensified after Russia began attacking Ukraine in February 2022.

In January 2022, Kiev officials renamed a street honoring Soviet Marshal Rodion Malinovsky, who played a prominent role in the liberation of Ukraine from Nazi Germany. The street's name now bears the name of members of the Azov Battalion.