Moscow: Two Russian lawmakers, who called on President Vladimir Putin to end the war against Ukraine, have been expelled from the Communist Party, media reports said on Wednesday.
Leonid Vasyukevich and Gennady Shulga were branded traitors and expelled for “discrediting the party” after their comments last Friday during a meeting of the Legislative Assembly of Primorsky region in far eastern Russia, Newsweek reported.
Vasyukevich appealed to Putin to stop the war and withdraw his troops from the country, adding that he was also speaking on behalf of three Communist Party colleagues: Shulga, Natalya Kochugova and Aleksandr Sustov.
“We understand that if our country does not stop the military operation, there will be even more orphans in our country,” Vasyukevich told the meeting, as seen in a video footage.
“During the military operation, young people who could bring great benefit to our country die and become disabled. We demand the immediate withdrawal of the troops of the Russian Federation,” the report quoted the lawmaker as saying.
Russia had passed a legislation, punishing ‘fake news’ about the military with up to 15 years in prison.
