Russia's lower chamber passes bill suggesting imprisonment for spreading fakes about military

MOSCOW

Russia's lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma, passed a draft law on Friday suggesting an up to 15-year prison sentence for spreading false information on actions of the Russian armed forces and on calls for sanctions against Russia.

According to the draft published on the Duma website, the bill suggests introducing a new article into the Criminal Code: "Public dissemination of deliberately false information about the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation."

Such an offense carries a maximum sentence of up to three years or a penalty of up to 1.5 million rubles (around $13,420). If a fake led to severe consequences, the prison sentence will be from 10 to 15 years, the draft noted.

The State Duma also introduced administrative responsibility for those discrediting the armed forces and making public calls to prevent their use, bringing a penalty of up to half a million rubles (about $4,473).

Discrediting the armed forces, accompanied by calls for sanctions against Russia, can result in getting a penalty from 50,000 to 1 million rubles ($447 to $8,946).

The repeated violation of the law within one year will be subjected to a criminal article.

According to Russia's legal procedure, the draft law must be also considered by the upper chamber of parliament, the Council of Federation, and then signed by the president.

Both the Council of Federation and the president are entitled to make amendments to the bill before it comes into force.

The draft law came amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war that began on Feb. 24. It has been met by outrage from the international community, with the EU, UK, and US implementing a range of economic sanctions on Russia.