Zelenskyy responds to petition to rename Russia to Muscovy

The petition, which attracted more than 25,000 signatures, states that “the historical name of Russia is Muscovy” (from the Latin ‘Moscovia’).

“This name was used in European and some Asian languages,” the petition explains. “This name also appears on many historical maps of the 16th-19th centuries, which were produced in Europe before and after the renaming of the Muscovite Empire to the All-Russian Empire.”

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The use of ‘Russia’ “has existed for only 301 years,” since Moscow Tsar Peter I (Peter the Great) started calling his Moscow kingdom “the Russian Empire” on Oct. 22, 1721.

President Zelenskyy provided a measured response.

“The issue raised in the petition needs to be carefully worked out both in terms of the historical and cultural context, and in view of the possible international legal consequences.”

Zelenskyy said that he had asked Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to comprehensively work out this issue together with scientists.

In November 2022, Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, called on Ukrainian officials and parliamentarians to pass a law according to which Ukraine would officially call the Russian Federation, Muscovy.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine