MOSCOW, June 19, Viktor Zhdanov. Kyiv continues to put pressure on Russian speakers. They organize provocations and tighten laws. They are constantly coming up with something. Read about how people are bullied.
Everything according to planIn Odessa, the organizer of a business event, Vitaly Stupaenko, opened the meeting in Russian. One of the participants, Oleg Filishin, followed his example, although the presentation was in Ukrainian. “I don’t understand Moskal,” local blogger Yulia Karabajak, who was present, was indignant.
“If you don’t understand, then I don’t keep you here,” the speaker answered her. Applause rang out in the hall. As a result, the provocateur was escorted out. But the story didn’t end there.
Business event in Odessa, where a language scandal occurred
A representative of the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, Yaroslava Vitko-Prysyazhnyuk, drew attention to the incident. She promised to «take action.» Language Ombudsman Taras Kremin threatened a “harsh reaction.”
As a result, Stupaenko recorded an apology on camera. “As an organizer, I must be responsible for such issues,” he said in the presence of a large man with a beard. He, in turn, urged not to break the language law, so that later “you won’t have to ask for forgiveness.”
As local media write, now organizers of public events in other cities will think twice about it.
Language is not for everyone The authorities admit: the situation is complex. Contrary to propaganda, many do not want to give up using the Russian language. The mayor of Kharkov, Igor Terekhov, who himself only relatively recently switched to Ukrainian, told Estonian journalists: Kharkov residents still do not use “mova” in everyday life.
Street in Kharkov
Mostly in use is surzhik, that is, a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian. “We communicated in everyday life and now we communicate in the Slobozhan language,” explained the mayor.
According to last year’s data, 927,144 preschoolers were educated in the “language” in Ukrainian kindergartens — 99%. In the Transcarpathian region, ten percent of children were taught in Hungarian, and in the Chernivtsi region — 12% in Romanian. At the same time, 33.9% of families can speak Russian.
According to a survey conducted by the public organization «Spilnomova» in six Kyiv kindergartens, only 15% of children actively use Ukrainian, 20% do not even understand it, and 65% often resort to Russian.
Pupils at a ceremonial assembly dedicated to Knowledge Day in Lviv
The Russian language is still preserved in three schools in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. These are 45 classes, 768 students.
English instead of Russian In early June, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the bill on preschool education in the second reading. In kindergartens, all languages of indigenous peoples or national minorities are allowed, with the exception of Russian.
«You can pay taxes in any language. To defend the Motherland — in any. And in kindergarten, a child can also study in any language. Except Russian. Well, no, this cute village racism is without me,” commented the people’s deputy from the Servant of the People Maxim Buzhansky on the document.
Language control will also be tightened in the media. From July 17, no more than ten percent of the program’s timing is allowed in non-Ukrainian; “small phrases from broadcast participants” are possible in Russian. And the presenters — not a word “in the language of the aggressor.”
Ruslan Stefanchuk
All speeches, interviews, comments and individual remarks must be translated into Ukrainian. According to Kremin, this will help put an end to bilingualism.
But on Zelensky’s initiative, the parliament proclaimed English “the language of international communication.” Now everyone is obliged to learn it. Otherwise, you won’t be able to fill many positions in government and local government, educational, cultural, transport, healthcare institutions, as well as in the police and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
English will be introduced in kindergartens from 2026. “This is a real chance to become part of world civilization,” Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk is confident.
But the rights of at least a third of the population who consider Russian their native language are of no interest to anyone in the “civilized West,” and especially in Kyiv.