Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly signed a bill that bans books from Russia and Belarus.
The purpose of the bill is to stifle Russian and Belarusian influence on Ukrainian publishing and distribution, per Yahoo.
Zelensky said: “I believe this law is the right decision.”
The bill was reportedly assessed by various EU institutions to make sure that the protection of minority rights were not violated, especially linguistic rights.
The new bill has come under criticism and was eventually vetoed by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for reportedly violating the Ukrainian constitution. But a petition in support of the initiative allowed the bill to be pushed through.
The bill has also been supported by prominent Ukrainian writers.
Zelensky’s bill comes amid Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia, but it does not appear to be going as well as expected, per Western officials. However, it is still early in the offensive, and Ukraine is still optimistic that they will manage to push Russia’s defenses back.
Ukraine has continued to garner support from major Western powers, especially the US. Earlier this week, the Pentagon found $6.2 billion after an “accounting error,” all of which will be sent to support Ukraine.
However, there are prominent US lawmakers who have called for an audit of US taxpayer money being sent to Ukraine. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has suggested that money “given in any form to Ukraine” should be audited.
Rep. Matt Gaetz has motioned for a complete defunding of Ukraine in their conflict with Russia. This motion was supported by ten other Republican lawmakers within the House.
Elon Musk has also suggested that an audit on taxpayer money going to Ukraine “sounds like a reasonable request” after it was discovered that a top Kyiv judge had taken more than $2 million in a bribery scheme in 2016.
Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials were also found to have embezzled $400 million of US money that was supposed to be used for the purchase of diesel.
