Viktor Medvedchuk, the chairman of the political council of the Opposition Platform - For Life (Opposition Platform - For Life) party, criticized the decision of the Odessa District Administrative Court, which had previously invalidated the granting of the regional status to the Russian language.

The corresponding claim was filed by the prosecutor's office of the Odessa region.

“Such a decision looks especially cynical in Odessa, the city of Pushkin, Babel, Bagritsky, Ilf, Petrov and other geniuses of the Russian word.

For the sake of achieving this goal, but only on a national scale, the media, national radicals and even a state body headed by the “language ombudsman” Taras Kremniy have been mobilized, to which the nickname “linguistic sprechenfuehrer” has long been firmly attached, - Medvedchuk quotes the press - service of HLS.

Commenting on the situation in his Telegram channel, the editor-in-chief of the Odessa edition of Timer, Yuri Tkachev, said that the regional status of the Russian language, in fact, "was a fig leaf and a formality."

According to him, the latest changes in the legislation of Ukraine led to the fact that "the status had no physical content and did not give native speakers absolutely no rights."

“But here is a question of principle: it is not enough just to take and deny rights.

An exemplary humiliation is needed: so that the "Russian-speaking" could not even imagine that they have at least some status in this state and that they are entitled to at least some rights, "Tkachev wrote.

According to Ukrainian media, the appeal of the prosecutor's office to the district court was initiated by the Lviv activist Svyatoslav Litinsky.

On his Facebook page, he posted an excerpt from the ruling of the Odessa instance, saying that this is the result of two years of "work".

An RT source, surrounded by the mayor of Odessa, Gennady Trukhanov, said that the city administration was "shocked by the court's decision."

“Why does some Lviv citizen decide what language people should speak in Odessa.

Odessa is a Russian-speaking city, and the authorities simply adapt to the needs of the population.

Therefore, he will defend the rights of the Russian language in our city, "the source said.

A representative of the Batkivshchyna party in a conversation with RT called the ruling of the Odessa court "a provocation before the local elections" scheduled for October 25.

In his opinion, the decision to annul the regional status of the Russian language is aimed, among other things, at undermining Trukhanov's positions.

“The language issue is painful not only for the east, but also for the south of Ukraine.

In a few months, local elections will be held in Ukraine and, obviously, by this decision they want to weaken the position of Gennady Trukhanov.

Problems of Odessa citizens, who urgently need to switch to communication in Ukrainian, do not bother anyone at all, "said the representative of Batkivshchyna.

Catalyst of Discontent

In Odessa, the Russian language received the status of a regional language in August 2012.

In support of this measure, 73 out of 111 deputies of the local city council voted. As the mayor of Odessa Alexei Kostusev (held this position in 2010-2013) said at the time, 89% of citizens find it more comfortable to speak, read and communicate in Russian.

The decision of the Odessa City Council was based on the law "On the Foundations of State Language Policy" adopted by the Verkhovna Rada a month earlier.

It was initiated by MPs from the Party of Regions Vadim Kolesnichenko and Sergei Kivalov.

  • Lesson in the Ukrainian school

  • Reuters

  • © Gleb Garanich

The document made it possible to use the non-state language extremely widely in the regions and settlements of Ukraine, where it is native to more than 10% of the population.

In this language, it was allowed to conduct office work, receive education and publish materials in the media.

However, at the end of February 2014, immediately after the coup, the Verkhovna Rada decided to consider the Kolesnichenko-Kivalov law invalid.

In the same year, 57 Rada deputies applied to the Constitutional Court of the country with a request to give a legal assessment of the Kolesnichenko-Kivalov law.

On February 28, 2018, the instance recognized the document adopted in July 2012 as contrary to the Constitution.

In an interview with RT, Andrey Suzdaltsev, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and World Politics at the Higher School of Economics, noted that the full implementation of the Kolesnichenko-Kivalov law would harmonize the language situation in Ukraine.

“This document was adopted with the support of Viktor Yanukovych.

In the conditions of Ukraine, this was a reasonable compromise: the president did not make Russian the second state language, but gave the eastern and southern regions of the country the opportunity to freely use their native language, "Suzdaltsev explained.

The expert recalled that the discussion of the Kolesnichenko-Kivalov law was accompanied by sharp political disputes in the Verkhovna Rada.

According to him, the document categorically did not suit the pro-Western and nationalist forces.

For this reason, it was canceled almost immediately after the removal of Yanukovych.

As Oleg Nemensky, a leading researcher at RISS, emphasized in a conversation with RT, the status of Russian as a regional language helped to mitigate internal contradictions in Ukraine, but contradicted the interests of radicals and Western states.

“It is not surprising that the annulment of the Kolesnichenko-Kivalov law and the large-scale attack on the rights of Russian-speakers after the Maidan served as a natural catalyst for a wave of discontent among residents of the southeast of Ukraine,” Nemensky stated.

"Increases dissatisfaction with the regime"

As experts explained, as a result of the language laws adopted after 2014, the regions of Ukraine were deprived of the rights to widespread public use of the Russian language.

For example, the document circulation in the country is conducted exclusively in the state language.

The post-Maidan authorities did not hide their negative attitude towards the special rights of the Russian-speaking regions.

For example, speaking on December 8, 2018 in Lviv, the fifth president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, said that the Kolesnichenko-Kivalov law impeded the development of the state language in the country.

  • Rally in support of the Ukrainian language near the building of the Verkhovna Rada

  • Reuters

  • © Gleb Garanich

It was under Poroshenko that the most radical measures were taken to Ukrainize the education system, political and social life of the country.

Shortly before the end of his powers, he signed the law "On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language."

The implementation of this document actually entails a total "Ukrainization" of the linguistic space of Ukraine.

The law requires the use of the state language in all public speaking, in the service sector and in film production.

Strict rules have been adopted for the media sector as well.

Thus, all electronic media must have a page on the Internet in Ukrainian, which will be loaded by default.

In the field of education, in addition to Ukrainian, it is allowed to use only the Crimean Tatar language and the languages ​​of the EU member states.

On April 25, 2019, after winning the second round of the presidential election, Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised to conduct a "thorough analysis" of the law signed by Poroshenko.

According to him, the document became "hostage to political rhetoric" and was adopted "without a preliminary sufficiently broad discussion with the public."

However, after taking office as head of state, Zelensky did not initiate a discussion.

Moreover, in March 2020, the former showman signed the law "On complete general secondary education", which contributes to the implementation in practice of the Ukrainian educational reform, which was launched in 2017.

In addition to Russia, the authorities of Hungary, Romania and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe have repeatedly criticized the almost complete translation of the Ukrainian education system into the state language. 

As a result, Kiev made some concessions to the Europeans, but did not turn off the course of ousting the Russian language from the sphere of education.

Commenting on the current situation, Viktor Medvedchuk said that Zelensky is continuing the language policy of his predecessor, aimed at “destroying” the Russian language and de-intellectualizing the population.

The co-chairman of the OPSL political council called the fight against the Russian language "a reprisal against the constitutional rights of Ukrainian citizens."

  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a trip to the Cherkasy region

  • © president.gov.ua

As one of the deputies of the pro-presidential party Servant of the People told RT, Zelensky decided not to interfere with the “Ukrainization” because of fears of radicals' speeches.

“He (Zelensky -

RT

) himself has only recently mastered Ukrainian and, as far as I understand, is not against the status of a regional language for the Russian language.

However, he is afraid to enter into an acute conflict with nationalists and fears protest actions by the opposition.

Therefore, the president generally prefers not to interfere in the language issue, "the interlocutor of RT said.

Oleg Nemensky believes that Zelensky's language policy only contributes to deepening the split in society.

In addition, from the point of view of the expert, the president "buries his own rating", which largely rested on the sympathies of Russian-speaking citizens.

“Zelenskiy is, in fact, implementing the discriminatory language laws passed under Poroshenko.

Such a weak-willed policy only reinforces dissatisfaction with the regime on the part of the Russian-speaking population.

Yes, while people do not take to the streets, but one way or another, the language issue is one of the main factors aggravating the crisis of Ukrainian statehood, ”concluded Nemensky.