The “Servant of the People” party of Vladimir Zelensky disowned the statement by the head of the presidential administration Andrei Bogdan that the Russian language could be granted regional status in Donbas. Ruslan Stefanchuk, the presidential representative in the Rada, said that Bogdan’s words do not coincide with the party program.

“It seems to me, should be considered (the statement of Bogdan. - RT ) as a personal position of Andrei Bogdan. <...> For us, the provision of the Constitution of Ukraine is decisive, according to which the only state language in Ukraine is Ukrainian, ”said Stefanchuk on the ICTV channel.

Bogdan’s earlier statement criticized Zelensky’s political opponents. According to Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Vyacheslav Kirilenko, the very idea of ​​giving the Russian language the status of a regional one is directed against the unity of Ukrainians.

“The idea of ​​the Russian language as a regional one was thought up in the Kremlin exclusively for the artificial separation of Ukrainians and political blackmail. Therefore, the status of Russian as regional has always been used not to defend the “language”, but to campaign for the “Russian world”. It is necessary that it be remembered "at Zelensky", - the politician wrote in the Twitter.

Previously, the politician threatened the new “Maidan” in the event of the abolition of the so-called law on language, adopted under Poroshenko. Thus, Kirilenko commented on the petition of a group of deputies of the Rada to the Constitutional Court to check the law for compliance with the Constitution.

He spoke with criticism of the Zelensky team and the former Ukrainian leader.

“Events unfold in such a way that the creeping pro-Russian revenge becomes more and more obvious. A proposal was made to provide the Russian language with official status in the Donbas, ”Poroshenko wrote on his Facebook page.

Recall, the day before, the head of the presidential administration, Andrei Bogdan, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, said that the solution of the Donbass conflict could be to give the Russian language the status of state on the territory of the unrecognized republics, subject to their return to Ukraine.

“I myself am from Lviv, I have Bandera there, I am for the Ukrainian language, and I am for Ukraine. But we have a problem, it needs to be solved, ”quotes the words of Bogdan“ Ukraine.ru ”.

"The reaction must be strong"

Recall that threats to restrict the rights of the Russian-speaking population, voiced by politicians who came to power in 2014, became one of the key causes of the conflict in south-eastern Ukraine.

Then the radical groups quickly became the driving force of "euromaidan". Considering that the majority of the inhabitants of a number of Ukrainian regions are Russian-speaking, the assertion of anti-Russian ideas as the foundation of state ideology created fertile ground for the conflict. As a result, for the sixth year in a row in the Donbass, the armed confrontation between the self-proclaimed republics and the Armed Forces of Ukraine has not stopped.

  • Euromaidan, 2014.
  • © Gleb Garanich / Reuters

The fight against the Russian language began in Ukraine immediately after the coup. One of its first decisions was the new Rada abolished the law on the foundations of the state language policy in force since 2012. That document made it possible to give the language, which is native to not less than 10% of the population of the region, regional status. And the proposal of Andrei Bogdan, in fact, implied a return to this practice.

In 2017, the Law “On Education” entered into force, prohibiting teaching in the languages ​​of national minorities. This outraged not only the Russian-speaking population, but also worried about ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine. However, in the same year, the Ukrainian authorities introduced language quotas on television - at least 75% of the broadcasting of central TV channels should be conducted in Ukrainian.

The final chord was the law “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as a state language” - Petro Poroshenko signed it after the first round of the presidential campaign, when most analysts predicted Vladimir Zelensky’s election victory.

  • The pedestal of the previously demolished monument to Lenin in Kharkov.
  • globallookpress.com
  • © Pavlo Pakhomenko / ZUMAPRESS.com

Russia, in turn, does not abandon attempts to enforce the rights of the Russian-speaking citizens of the neighboring republic. So, Moscow again came up with the initiative to convene a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the language law in Ukraine. Earlier, the Russian Federation proposed to organize such a discussion on May 20 - on the day the Ukrainian law on language came into force. But the rest of the UN Security Council did not bring this issue on the agenda.

Experts believe that this time the international community will not support the call of Moscow, but at the same time they admit that the reaction of international institutions can be heard in Kiev.

“But, of course, the reaction must be very strong. Now, unfortunately, with the exception of rare remarks, the world community is still looking at what is happening in Ukraine through its fingers, ”political analyst Anna Aryamova explained in an interview with RT.

"Aggressive and dangerous group"

It should be noted that the restriction of the use of the Russian language is only part of the general policy of Kiev, which in recent years has adopted a distinct nationalist vector.

Thus, in 2015, the country has a law “On condemnation of the communist and Nazi regimes” - experts mention the mention of the Nazi regime in this context as a rather awkward attempt to camouflage the true goals of the document.

The law allowed the authorities to start a mass campaign in the country to rename Soviet toponyms, as well as to demolish monuments to Soviet military and political figures.

At the same time, the activity of radical nationalist groups is only encouraged. And the organization OUN-UPA * directly cooperating with the fascist troops was even given the status of a fighter for the independence of Ukraine.

Any opposition to this policy causes protest not only among the Kiev authorities, but also among various nationalist groups.

For example, on July 2, militants of the National Corps hung symbolic effigies of deputies who had previously voted for returning to Marshal Zhukov Avenue Peter Grigorenko near the city council building in Kharkov.

It is not safe to go against nationalists in modern Ukrainian realities, experts say. Even politicians who hold much more moderate views are forced to correlate their statements and actions with nationalist attitudes, analysts say.

For example, immediately after his victory in the elections, Vladimir Zelensky promised to carefully check the law on language "for the observance of the rights and interests of citizens." As the new president noted then, the law became a “hostage to political rhetoric”, as it was considered during the election campaign, and in practice support for the Ukrainian language should be carried out with the help of incentives rather than prohibitions.

However, after the inauguration, these plans came to naught - Zelensky said that he would not initiate an inspection of the law on language for compliance with the Constitution, although it would not hinder the deputies of the Rada from doing so.

  • Vladimir Zelensky.
  • globallookpress.com
  • © Serg Glovny / ZUMAPRESS.com

According to experts, the nationalist ideology in Ukraine in recent years has gained such weight that now the Zelensky team in any case will have to reckon with it.

“Nationalists now represent the most active, aggressive part of the population, which is constantly being exploited by various forces, both external and internal. Nationalist ideology has become a time bomb for Ukraine, now it is a formidable political tool, and in whose hands it will turn out to be - a big question. It is clear that while he is not in the hands of Vladimir Zelensky and his allies, ”Aryamova said in an interview with RT.

Adherence to radical Ukrainian nationalism may bring short-term dividends to politicians, but also lead to a collapse in the long term, experts say.

It was under the nationalist slogans that Ukraine came to an armed conflict in the southeast and plunged into an economic crisis, and during the election campaign the citizens of Ukraine showed their attitude towards this by voting for Zelensky. However, between the election cycles, aggressive and cohesive groups of nationalists again come to the fore, political scientists state.

  • Euromaidan.
  • © Vasily Fedosenko / Reuters

“As Poroshenko’s presidency has shown, Ukrainian nationalism is devoid of meaning, is not capable of giving Ukraine any advantages. If Zelensky gets up on the same platform, then he, too, is likely to face a political fiasco, ”says Anna Aryamova.

However, balancing between the opinion of the passive majority and the active nationalist groupings is not easy for the Zelensky team - the politician has already shown that he is ready to give up his promises so as not to irritate the radicals. This point of view in an interview with RT was expressed by the deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of Moscow State Pedagogical University, political scientist Vladimir Shapovalov.

“Ukrainian nationalists have shown what they are capable of, this is an extremely aggressive and dangerous group. Now Zelensky is trying to maneuver between them, the political establishment and the silent majority. But these vacillations speak about the weak preparation of his team, the randomness of the work, ”explained Shapovalov.

So far, there has been a vicious circle in Ukraine - the radicals are putting pressure on politicians, which, in turn, does not allow to reduce the heat of Russophobia in state rhetoric and further consolidates nationalism as the dominant ideology, political scientists note.

“It is not clear whether Ukraine can get out of this trap. In any case, for this, very experienced and strong politicians must be in power, because it is very difficult to suppress and stifle nationalist groups. In my opinion, virtuoso synchronous work of the special services, security forces and state propaganda is necessary. And, of course, the state should offer an alternative ideology. Kiev should abandon plans to eliminate everything Russian, and instead promote the idea of ​​an active struggle for the welfare of Ukraine itself and Ukrainians, ”summed up Aryamova.

* “Ukrainian Insurgent Army” (UPA) is a Ukrainian organization recognized as extremist and banned in Russia (decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 11/17/2014).