A Russian politician in St. Petersburg has asked prosecutors to investigate Russian President Vladimir Putin for using the word “war” to describe the conflict in Ukraine, accusing the Kremlin chief of violating his own law, Reuters reported.
Putin has for months called the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation”. In March this year, he signed into law laws providing for heavy fines and prison sentences for defamation or the deliberate dissemination of false information about the military, putting those who call the war by his real name at risk of prosecution.
However, Putin deviated from his usual language, telling reporters: “Our goal is not to turn the wheel of military conflict, but on the contrary, to end this war.”
While he thought the legal action might go nowhere, Nikita Yuferev, an opposition city councilor in Putin’s native St. Petersburg, did so anyway to expose the “falseness” of the system.
“It is important for me to do this to draw attention to the contradiction and injustice of these laws that he (Putin) adopts and signs, but which he himself does not respect,” Yuferev told Reuters.
“I think the more we talk about him, the more people will doubt his honesty, his infallibility and the less support there will be for him.”
In an open letter, Yuferev called on the attorney general and interior minister to hold Putin accountable under the law for spreading false reports about the actions of the Russian military.
Yuferev, who asked Reuters not to reveal his whereabouts, said Putin’s critics who publicly called the war by its real name faced severe punishment.
