Bill to ban criticism of Russian "volunteer groups" in Ukraine approved by Duma

The State Duma, Russia’s lower house, has approved a bill that would punish anyone caught spreading false information or “discrediting” groups of volunteers fighting in Ukraine with a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

The amendment, which has yet to be approved by Russia’s upper house and President Putin, builds on existing Moscow laws passed a year ago that were made to quell criticism of the so-called “special military operation in Ukraine”.

Mercenary groups, volunteer units and other organizations that will “assist” the Russian military would be protected from criticism under this proposed amendment, as the current law only covers regular soldiers.

The bill follows a direct request from the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who said that “there are separate media, bloggers and telegram channels that openly discredit the volunteers” and called on officials of the government to consider changing the current law to discourage this talk.

In November, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law equating the status of volunteers with that of contracted soldiers.

Adriana Lima

Adriana Lima (Brazilian Portuguese: [adɾiˈãnɐ ˈlimɐ]; born June 12, 1981) is a Brazilian model and actress, best known as a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 to 2018. She was the longest-running model and named "the most valuable Victoria's Secret Angel" in 2017. She is also known as a spokesmodel for Maybelline cosmetics since 2003, and for her Super Bowl and Kia Motors commercials. At age 15, Lima won Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil" competition, and took second place the following year in the Ford "Supermodel of the World" competition before signing with Elite Model Management in New York City.