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Russia’s Police to Enforce Preservation of “Traditional Russian Values”

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Vlad Litnarovych
Vlad Litnarovych
Author
Russia’s Police to Enforce Preservation of “Traditional Russian Values”
Russian riot policemen detain gay and LGBT rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev (C) during an unauthorized gay rights activists rally in central Moscow on May 30, 2015. (Source: Getty Images)

Russia’s Interior Ministry has drafted a presidential decree assigning police the responsibility of preserving and strengthening “traditional Russian spiritual and moral values,” publishing the draft on the official regulatory portal for public review on November 8.

The proposed changes seek to add a new provision to the Ministry of Internal Affairs' mandate: “carrying out activities aimed at preserving and strengthening traditional Russian spiritual and moral values.”

The decree defines traditional values as including “patriotism, citizenship, service to the homeland, moral ideals, strong family bonds, creative work, prioritization of spiritual over material values, humanism, compassion, justice, and collectivism.”

However, the document does not clarify how police will be expected to fulfill these objectives.

This draft decree aligns with Russia’s state agenda to implement the “Fundamentals of State Policy for the Preservation and Strengthening of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values.”

Under this policy, Russia recently designated a so-called “International LGBT Movement” as an extremist organization, despite its nonexistence, and the State Duma passed a preliminary bill banning information that promotes voluntary childlessness.

Earlier, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church suggested the potential implementation of the death penalty in Russia, stating that neither the Church nor Jesus Christ explicitly condemned it.

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