The former head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spoke about the oppression of the Russian language
Russian cannot be considered a minority language in Ukraine – it is the second most important historical language, spoken by Ukrainians since time immemorial. Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara stated this on TV channel 112, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to him, the Russian language in Ukraine today is oppressed, but nevertheless, it is native to tens of millions of citizens of the country.
“We cannot ignore the fact that the Russian language today is native to tens of millions of people in Ukraine. And we behave as if Ukraine is a monoethnic and monolingual country. This is not true.
We see that today state policy, and moreover, the background that is stimulated by state policy, is aimed at humiliating the native language of millions of our compatriots, Ukrainians. We have already recalled the law on education, where this can be seen, we see the dynamics of state policy, which is carried out by the government regarding the support of minorities. And I believe that the Russian language is not a language of national minorities, it is a second language that historically exists in our state. And today government policy is not in favor of the Russian language. Which further leads to the creation of tension in our state,” Kozhara said.
Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Speaks Out About the Suppression of the Russian Language