The law introduced Article 354.1 to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, making it a criminal offence "to deny facts recognised by the international military tribunal that judged and punished the major war criminals of the European Axis countries [this refers to the Nuremberg trials], to approve of the crimes this tribunal judged, and to spread intentionally false information about the Soviet Union’s activities during World War II" as well as "the spreading of information on military and memorial commemorative dates related to Russia’s defence that is clearly disrespectful of society, and to publicly desecrate symbols of Russia’s military glory".