Vasily Piskaryov
# Vasily Piskaryov

Vasily Ivanovich Piskaryov (Russian: Василий Иванович Пискарёв) is a deputy for the United Russia party in the 7th State Duma of the Russian Federation. He is the head of the committee on Safety and Anti-Corruption.

On February 28, 2022, during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Pisharyov introduced a bill in his committee that would criminalize the distribution of "fake" news or information about the war, with punishments of up to 15 years in prison. Determination of whether the information was "fake" is left to the Russian government. The bill was widely criticized as a ploy to silence independent journalism in the country. The bill passed the Duma and was signed into law on March 4 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, prompting dozens of news organizations, both in and out of Russia, to stop publishing news about the war.

## Sanctions

Sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War.

