Kiev must create conditions for "gentle" Ukrainization and "de-Russification" of Donbass.

This was stated by the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language of Ukraine Taras Kremin.

According to him, some residents of the self-proclaimed DPR

and the LPR are actually not Russian-speaking, but "Russified".

“And therefore, the issue of reintegration of Donbass is a matter of de-Russification, or, in other words, Ukrainization.

But not total, violent, as some politicians are used to saying in our country.

Delicate, "Kremin said in an interview with Channel 5.

To this end, the Ombudsman proposed to communicate with the residents of the region "in the language of love, respect, trust, confidence."

He added that even residents of the self-proclaimed republics allegedly use the Ukrainian language, "but for now in the kitchen."

Kremin also said that the Russian language allegedly "is present mainly in the regional centers" of Ukraine, and most of the rural population is "exclusively Ukrainian-speaking."

The representative of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic in the political subgroup of the contact group on Donbass, Rodion Miroshnik, reacted to this statement by the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language of Ukraine.

According to him, Kremin's message about the Ukrainization of Donbass is "flirting with radicals."

“Such statements have no practical meaning for the residents of Donbass.

This is more like flirting with radicals, for whom Ukrainization and the imposition of their own standards and ideology is the main priority, pleasing their own pride, "Miroshnik said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

He also stressed that any attempts to impose Ukrainization on Donbass, “even gentle, even tough,” is an attack “on the inalienable right of a person to speak their native language.”

“Even in the pre-war Donbass, more than 90% of the population considered themselves Russian-speaking, now this percentage is higher, because today for the inhabitants of the LPR and DPR, Ukrainian is also a language of aggression, a language of lies, outrageous propaganda and anger,” Miroshnik said.

  • People with posters "Choice of Donbass - Russian language"

  • RIA News

  • © Sergey Averin

Language law and Donbass

Recall that Ukraine has a law "On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as a state language", which the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the spring of 2019.

On July 16 of the same year, the initiative came into force, but not completely - its individual norms are still being implemented.

At first, residents of the country were obliged to speak Ukrainian in all public spheres of public life.

In addition, citizens of the republic must conduct all cultural events in the state language.

It is also possible to shoot films and TV shows only in Ukrainian.

In 2020, Kiev Ukrainianized advertising, ordered the publication of scientific publications in Ukrainian or English, as well as in the official languages ​​of the EU (but in these cases with an annotation in the state language).

Medical documentation was also issued only in Ukrainian.

The transport sphere was also Ukrainianized: the names of stops, stations, ports and airports are now written exclusively in Ukrainian, duplication in Latin is allowed.

In January 2021, under the same law on the state language, service workers were obliged to address customers only in Ukrainian.

The employee can switch to another language only at the request of the visitor.

Failure to comply with these rules is subject to penalties.

On January 26, the Ukrainian party "Opposition Platform - For Life" announced that it provoked "linguistic genocide, fueled by the current government in every possible way."

According to the deputies, Ukrainians who express a desire to speak Russian are being persecuted.

It is also worth noting that the initiatives to limit the rights of the Russian-speaking population, which were put forward by politicians who came to power in Ukraine in 2014, became one of the causes of the conflict in the southeast of the country.

A few weeks after the inauguration, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Russian language in Donbass could receive a special status.

“I think that we will end the war someday, and we need to let people in Donetsk speak the language they want.

What is the problem here?

We generally do not have this problem, ”the Ukrainian leader said at the time.

According to him, "if a request is received from the residents of the region, the authorities will be able to consider this issue."

“If the Donetsk residents have any special request, which is important for them, that they can, for example, fill out documents in Russian, I do not see any problem in this,” Zelensky said.

At the same time, he stressed that Ukrainian will remain the official language in the country.

  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

  • Reuters

  • © Valentyn Ogirenko / Pool

However, after this statement, the Ukrainian authorities did not follow any specific actions, only the process of Ukrainization continued.

In March 2020, Zelensky signed the law "On complete general secondary education", which provides for a reduction in the teaching of subjects in the languages ​​of national minorities, including Russian.

"Nothing to do with reality"

As a RT source in the Batkivshchyna party noted, Ukrainians no longer understand what to expect from the authorities, "who constantly make contradictory statements."

According to him, many residents of the country believe that "Ukrainization of the population is violent, and this fact only annoys people."

“It seems that Taras Kremin lived abroad for many years and never traveled through the territory of Ukraine, did not come to cities and villages far from Kiev.

This is the only way to explain such statements, which have nothing to do with reality.

Residents of Donbass, like the south of the country, have always spoke Russian.

Even in Kiev, a significant part of the residents also speak Russian, ”the source stated.

The RT source in the Golos party, in turn, believes that such statements are a signal to Donbass that Kiev, in reality, does not have any coherent strategy for the reintegration of these territories.

“The authorities show people that no one will take into account their interests, including on the painful language issue.

At any moment, you can say that millions of people are "Russified" and deprive them of the right to express themselves in the language they like best.

This right, by the way, is spelled out in the Constitution, ”the interlocutor recalled.

An RT source in the Servant of the People party noted that statements such as that made by Kremin "not only frighten ordinary Ukrainians, but also shock Western partners once again."

“Ukraine positions itself as a democratic country, but in reality it is not.

Violent Ukrainization not only generates resistance, especially in the east and center of the country, but also restricts people.

Knowledge of Russian allows you to gain access to a huge amount of literature, communicate without problems in many countries of the world.

What's wrong with the fact that a person chooses a convenient language for communication?

If he wants to speak English and German, this is possible, but Russian is not, ”he said.

The interlocutor also asked the question, "how does Kremin know what language Ukrainians speak at home."

“If he knew, he would not have made such statements,” the deputy added.

"Wishful thinking"

As Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, noted in a conversation with RT, the words of the authorized representative for the protection of the state language of Ukraine "once again point to the reason why Donbass actually left the country."

“Kiev instilled Ukrainian, violating the fundamental human right to speak the language that is native to him.

New statements on this topic indicate that over the past years, the Kiev authorities have not learned anything, have not learned the lessons of history, have not worked on mistakes.

They continue to persistently develop the topic of Ukrainization, which is killing for Ukraine, ”Shapovalov said.

Political analyst Alexander Dudchak believes that Kiev has no task to improve relations with residents of Donbass.

“They have no desire to find compromises.

They only declare this in words, but in fact they believe that if the Russian-speaking population of the DPR and LPR is not ready to accept the rules of the center, then Ukraine simply does not need these people.

What they are saying now, of course, does not reflect the interests of Ukrainians, ”he said in a conversation with RT. 

  • Residents of Kiev / Donbass

  • RIA News

Shapovalov also believes that Ukraine "once again demonstrates its unfriendliness towards its Russian and Russian-speaking fellow citizens."

“Therefore, I will not be surprised that after this statement, more and more Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine will express their dissatisfaction and intensify their protest against the official Kiev.

It is obvious that the current political elites are simply not capable of a qualitatively different view of the situation and the conflict between the Ukrainian and Russian-speaking parts of society.

In this sense, Ukraine is far from the democratic countries to which it allegedly strives.

It is far from countries where, like in Russia, representatives of many languages ​​live, and they develop them, encourage national cultures, "the analyst noted.

In his opinion, the plans of the Ukrainian authorities to Ukrainize Donbass are "absolutely unrealistic."

“Ukrainian politician is wishful thinking.

Residents of the DPR and LPR have already made their choice.

The Russian-speaking community of Ukraine - from Kharkov to Kiev and Odessa - will not stop using its native language either, ”Shapovalov said.

In his opinion, in the future, Kiev will only increase the pressure on Donbass.

“The Ukrainian authorities will receive signals from the United States, where the Democrat Biden became president.

And we already know the policy of the United States Democratic Party, aimed at actively interfering in internal Ukrainian affairs.

The new American administration will more actively use Kiev as a springboard for the anti-Russian policy, and, consequently, provoke conflicts in the territory of Donbass, ”the expert predicted.