The event is quiet, many of the participants, who came to the demonstration with posters, covered their mouths with protective masks or scarves, showing thus that the authorities are trying to limit freedom of speech in the country. The organizers of the demonstration declared it as peaceful, but the police are monitoring the event anyways.
On 7 April, the Moldovan parliament approved in the first reading a bill on information security prohibiting the rebroadcasting of Russian news, information-analytical and military programs.
Another bill banning the Russia-associated Saint George ribbon was adopted last Thursday; it also banned the symbols "V" and "Z," associated with the Russian military operation in Ukraine. The manufacture, sale, distribution, storage, and public use of banned symbols in Moldova will be punishable by fines from $245 to $490 or community service for regular citizens, from $490 to $980 for officials, and from $490 to $1,630 for legal entities. The bill was signed into law by Moldovan President Maia Sandu on Tuesday.
Service members of pro-Russian troops are seen atop of an armoured vehicle with the symbol "Z" painted on its side in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 24, 2022.
© REUTERS / Alexander Ermochenko
The St. George ribbon, which consists of three black and two orange stripes, is an integral part of many military awards of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation. At the beginning of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014, the symbol was used by militia fighters and volunteers who fought on the side of the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk against Ukrainian forces.
The Latin letters "Z" and "V" are painted on Russian military vehicles participating in the military operation that started in Ukraine on 24 February. In Russia the letters, especially "Z," have already become unofficial symbols of support for the operation among the population.