President Putin has signed amendments to Russia's criminal code, officially designating Nazi crimes against the Soviet population during WWII as genocide. The move also criminalizes the denial of these atrocities.

Russia has formally designated Nazi crimes against the Soviet population during World War II as genocide and criminalised their denial, after President Vladimir Putin signed amendments to the country’s criminal code, the Kremlin said on Thursday. The term “genocide of the Soviet people” has increasingly been used in Russia in recent years. Authorities have also proposed repurposing a closed museum dedicated to the Soviet-era Gulag system into one focused on victims of Nazi crimes. Moscow has...