Odesa region ranked second in the number of complaints about violations of language laws in 2025

In 2025, Odesa region ranked second in Ukraine in terms of the number of complaints about violations of state language protection legislation.

This was stated by the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Olena Ivanovska in her annual report.

According to her, 445 complaints were received from Odesa region last year, which is 6.7% more than in 2024. The largest number of complaints in 2025 concerned the city of Kyiv - 1,117 appeals, which is 261 appeals more than in 2024 (an increase of 30.5%). The highest rates were recorded in Kharkiv Oblast, where the number of complaints increased from 182 to 374 (105.5%), and in Dnipro Oblast - 261 complaints (50.9% more). Overall, complaints from the top five regions accounted for 76% of the total number of appeals.

"The geography of complaints shows their concentration in the largest megacities, in particular in Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Dnipro. This trend confirms that the issue of observance of language rights is most acute in large cities and industrial centers of Ukraine, especially in the eastern and southern regions. This indicates the need to strengthen state control in urbanized communities," the Ombudsman said.

In addition to the service sector, where the growth was 22% (or 257 more reports), a significant increase in the number of appeals is observed in the areas of advertising and information for general information - 547 appeals compared to 325 in 2024 (an increase of 68.3%). The number of appeals concerning state and local authorities increased significantly - 115 appeals compared to 72 last year (59.7% more).

The largest increase was recorded in the cultural sector: the number of complaints more than doubled from 62 in 2024 to 142 in 2025 (129%). The number of appeals in labor relations also increased from 5 to 12 (by 140%). A moderate increase in the number of complaints was observed in the areas of education and science (from 165 to 196; 18.8%), healthcare (from 91 to 103; 13.2%), transportation (from 58 to 70; 20.7%), and book publishing and distribution (from 27 to 43; 59.3%).

At the same time, a decrease in the number of applications was recorded in a number of areas. In particular, in the activities of law enforcement agencies, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other power structures, the number of requests decreased from 43 to 33 (by 23.3%), and in the field of sports - from 28 to 26 (by 7.1%). The number of appeals concerning the activities of state and municipal institutions remained unchanged (16 in 2024 and 2025). The number of complaints in the healthcare sector remained almost unchanged - 112 in 2025 compared to 109 in 2024 (an increase of 2.8%).

Кирило Бойко