Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has tasked Prime Minister Denis Shmygal with examining the possibility of renaming Russia in Ukrainian as Muscovy, rendered as Rosiya or Moscow. Zelensky addressed the petition published on the presidential site and noted that on February 14 it had gathered the 25,000 signatures needed for consideration.
The president said the issue requires careful study, taking into account its historical and cultural context as well as potential international legal implications. He asked the prime minister to oversee a comprehensive study and to involve scientific institutions and experts in the assessment.
The Ukrainian presidency states that petitions gaining more than 25,000 votes on the official site are considered. The initiative in question was introduced for review on November 23 and attracted roughly 25.8 thousand supporters. Valeria Alexandrovna Shakhvorostova is listed on the president’s site in connection with the petition.
The petition’s author views Muscovy as the historic name for Russia and contends that the current Russian Federation name reflects a capture of Russian history by Kiev. The proposal suggests replacing the term Russian Federation with Moscow Federation and replacing the adjective Russian with Moscow. The petitioner argues that renaming would deliver a strong informational impact on the international stage.
On November 29, 2022, the petition received support from Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Serhiy Kyslytsya. The following day, Nikolai Knyazhitsky, a member of European Solidarity, also spoke in favor of a legislative move to rename Russia.
Attempts to rename in the past
Renaming Russia to Muscovy has resurfaced multiple times. In January 2022, Kyiv City Council members floated the idea of Muscovy as a replacement name. Earlier in December 2021, deputies in the Lviv region sought to petition the Verkhovna Rada and the president to rename Russia as Muscovy and Russians as Muscovites, arguing this would restore historical justice.
In Rivne District Council, deputies at the same time objected to both the president and parliament, claiming Russia uses its current name illegitimately. A year earlier, in September 2020, Nikita Poturaev, a Servant of the People party member, suggested that each country has the right to decide how to address neighboring states.
In February 2023, Alexei Arestovich, a former adviser to the Office of the President, accused Moscow of referring to itself as Russian. He argued that Ukraine competes with Moscow for perceived inherent rights and noted that Ukrainians might feel a distinct national identity separate from Moscow. The lingering point was that the name Moscow appeared in foreign sources during the 16th and 17th centuries alongside the ethnographic name Russia. Historian Sergei Solovyov highlighted that Peter the Great’s era involved diplomatic moves to reduce the use of multiple names for the country in Europe.
How Russia responded
Boris Chernyshov, a deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma from LDPR, previously called the petition a political misstep and remarked that such proposals are best met with a smile. Oleg Morozov, a deputy from United Russia, described the renaming idea as a sign of a political dwarf complex that provokes little more than amusement.
The term Muscovy has also appeared in remarks by Vladimir Putin, who has discussed the concept in the context of Russia facing geopolitical challenges. He has argued that Western forces sought to weaken Russia and, at times, to divide the country, using examples tied to the international response to Russia’s post–Soviet status.