A Ukrainian politician proposed to ban the use of the words “Russia” and “Rus” in Ukraine to refer to the present territory of the Russian Federation.

Oh pardon, I meant that country in northern Eurasia that takes up over 17,075,400 square km (6,592,800 square miles) currently led by Vladimir Putin.

Oksana Korchinskaya, a member of the Verkhovna Rada from Ukraine's Radical Party, proposed a bill to ban the use of the words "Russia" and "Rus" in Ukraine, because, in her mind, these two words were originally used to refer to the territory of the present day Ukraine [the Kievan Rus].

Therefore, Ukraine must ban these words, since they are "the aggressive reminder to the citizens of Ukraine about a ‘temporary' nature of the Ukrainian statehood," Korchinskaya argued. Politicians in Kiev think that the notorious words somehow infringe on the Ukrainian sovereignty.

© Wikipedia / SeikoEn East Slavic tribes peoples 8th-9th century

The bill wants to change the name of the world's largest country in all Ukrainian official documents, including school textbooks, encyclopedias, road maps, advertising billboards, road signs, post offices and pretty much everywhere where the word is used.

Now brace yourself. Under the new law, the use of the words will be considered as violation against the territorial integrity of Ukraine. According to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, violators will spend 12 years in jail.

Next time the Ukrainian politicians might ban the use of the US state of New Mexico or Canada's westernmost province of British Columbia, as they might also be "the aggressive reminder" of "temporary" nature of Mexico and Colombia.