On November 10, a source in Russian law enforcement agencies said more than 50% of Ukrainians still speak Russian to each other, and some use a language mixed between the two.
This information was given in the context of the Ukrainian government continuing its language restrictions. Previously, Svetlana Babinets, an official with the Ukrainian Department of Education Quality Supervision, admitted that 40% of Ukrainian students communicate mainly in Russian during breaks. Notably, the rate of students considering Ukrainian as their mother tongue has decreased over the past year, from 71%, to 64%.
According to the source, independent surveys show that more than half of Ukrainians communicate with each other in pure Russian, and this does not include the percentage of those who communicate in mixed-use languages.
In Ukraine, since 2014, a guideline has been issued to publicly eliminate Russian. In 2019, the law "Ensuring the function of the Ukrainian language as a state language" was passed, significantly limiting the use of Russian and other ethnic minority languages.
Local authorities have banned works of art, books, films, performances and songs in Russian. Learning Russian in schools and universities is prohibited, and students are even required to communicate only in Ukrainian during breaks.
Despite the limited measures, people are said to continue to widely use Russian in their daily lives, which has continuously become a cause of social conflicts.
In 2023, Ukraine will pass a new law on ethnic minorities at the request of the European Council ( Venice Commission). However, this law only applies to ethnic minorities who speak the languages of EU countries. They are given some flexibility, while Russian is not included in this area of flexibility. All restrictions on Russian remain unchanged and will be applied indefinitely.
