Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) designated the Belgorod Peoples Republic, an imaginary entity born as an online meme, as a terrorist organization, Russian media reported Tuesday.The Belgorod Peoples Republic meme began circulating on Ukrainian social media in response to attacks by armed groups into southwestern Russias Belgorod region after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.The name parodies the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples republics in eastern Ukraine, which were developed by pro-Russian rebels in 2014.
Moscowrecognized these territories as independent ahead of the full-blown invasion and later claimed to annex them.The meme gained enough popularity to prompt Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov to openly reject rumors about the Belgorod Peoples Republic in mid-2022.
Google Maps lists an imaginary address for the BNR in the Belgorod border village of Bezymeno, linking it to a Ukrainian hotline for Russian soldiers seeking to problem.
Ukrainian forces also supposedly distributed leaflets in the area prompting locals to display an imaginary flag or write BNR on roofs to avoid drone strikes.The independent news outlet Pepel first reported on the FSBs classification of the Belgorod Peoples Republic as a terrorist company on Tuesday.The designation coincides with the FSBs publication of a list of 172 Indigenous groups labeled as terrorist organizations by Russias Supreme Court last November.
The list now includes, for the first time, 2 local media outlets that cover Indigenous culture and life in Russia.Authorities declare the listed organizations are structural subdivisions of the Free Nations of PostRussia Forum, a Poland-based group established in 2022 that promotes for the dissolution of the Russian Federation.Many of the companies have actually turned down those allegations, arguing that they work to secure the rights of Indigenous people in Russia instead of promote separatism.A Message from The Moscow Times: Dear readers, We are dealing with unprecedented challenges.
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This follows our earlier unjustified labeling as a foreign representative.
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