Ukraine’s Parliament has banned music by artists with Russian citizenship from being aired in public in light of the country's invasion of Ukraine, Belga News Agency reported.
A measure to that effect was passed by a two-thirds majority in the upper house on Sunday, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak stated on Telegram. The bill states that the "musical product of the aggressor state [could] influence separatist sentiment in the population."
The text also read that Russian music would make the adoption of a Russian identity more attractive while weakening the Ukrainian state.
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Exemptions to the legislation apply only to artists who have publicly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it added. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) will draw up a special list of exemptions.
In parallel, the import and distribution of books and other printed products from Russia, Belarus and the Russian-occupied territories have been banned. Books from Russia had already been subject to censorship since 2016.
