The legislation in Ukraine regulating the use of the Ukrainian language does not apply to personal communication or religion, and does not provide for any criminal liability for violations of its norms, «language patrols» or «language inspectors», as propaganda claims. Ukrainians themselves do not see any harassment of Russian-speaking Ukrainians, as evidenced by the results of opinion polls.
Russian media actively reacted to the anniversary of the adoption of the law «On Supporting the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language» in Ukraine by spreading one of the oldest propaganda narratives about the alleged constant oppression of the Russian language.
«Anyone who switches to Russian, even if it is their mother tongue, is threatened with punishment and sometimes even death by the authorities,» one Kremlin outlet said, telling the «truth» about what is allegedly happening in Ukraine.
Disinformation about the oppression of the Russian language in Ukraine is a narrative that the Kremlin used to justify the annexation of Crimea and to allegedly «protect» the «people of Donbas». These same narratives are now being used to justify a full-scale war that will supposedly liberate the «Russian people».
In reality, this «genocide» is a complete fantasy of Russian propaganda. The law, which is interpreted by Russians as Russophobic, regulates language policy in the country and makes Ukrainian mandatory in all spheres of public life. At the same time, the legislation does not apply to personal communication or religion, and does not provide for any criminal liability for violations of its norms, «language patrols» or «language inspectors», as propaganda claims.
Taras Shamayda, one of the drafters and initiators of the law, describes its main purpose as follows: the document defines in detail how the right to the Ukrainian language is protected in every public sphere, how a citizen can appeal against violations of this right, and what sanctions await violators.
In addition, Ukrainians themselves do not feel any harassment against Russian-speaking Ukrainians, as confirmed by various opinion polls. For example, in 2023, 84% of respondents to a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology agreed with the statement that «there are no problems with the use of the Russian language in Ukraine and that Russian-speaking citizens are not oppressed and persecuted.»
Commenting on the results of the survey, KIIS Director Anton Grushetsky also noted that compared to 2022, the number of those who believe that there is no harassment has decreased. The number of those who agree that there are no problems with the use of the Russian language in Ukraine has dropped from 93% in 2022 to 84% in 2023.
«However, such a decrease is quite expected, since since May 2022 the language issue has become the subject of discussions (although in many cases it is more correct to speak not about reasoned discussions, but about speculations on human emotions, where ‘exaggeration of measure’ often took place). The revitalization of discussions about the use of the ‘language of the aggressor’ is caused precisely by Russia’s aggression, which does not protect, but contributes to the deterioration of the attitude towards the Russian language,» explained Grushetsky.
Earlier, StopFake debunked a number of fakes about the alleged harassment of the use of the Russian language in Ukraine, for example, in the pieces: Manipulation: In Ukraine, People Will Be Fined for Speaking Russian, Fake: Ukraine Makes Speaking Russian Criminal Offence Says Lavrov, Fake: Children in Kherson Region Have Not Learnt Russian Since 2013.
