Russian influence in social media slows down Ukrainization in the South

Recently, the process of Ukrainization has slowed down in the southern regions due to opposition from Russia. Young people are using Ukrainian less and less at home, with friends, and on the Internet.

This was reported by the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Taras Kremin.

Kremin pointed to a decrease in the number of people who consider Ukrainian their mother tongue, including students, parents and teachers.

"The Russian enemy continues to oppose the Ukrainian identity, occupying social networks, telegram channels, and in the south and east - the media space, paving the way for the consciousness of young Ukrainians," he said.

One of the key signs of this is a decrease in the proportion of participants in the educational process who consider Ukrainian their native language (students - by 17%, parents - by 11%, teachers - by 8%), a decrease in the use of the Ukrainian language in the educational environment, and the Russification of the Internet and social networks.

According to the language ombudsman, only 37% of students speak Ukrainian with their friends, and 39% speak Ukrainian at home. In addition, the number of students who prefer Ukrainian on the Internet has decreased by 10%.

To combat this problem, Taras Kremin suggests strengthening the human and organizational capacity of the National Commission for State Language Standards, as well as creating a separate unit within the Ministry of Culture to develop and implement language policy.

Recently, Yaroslava Vitko-Prysyazhnyuk , a representative of the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language and a member of the Odesa District Council, said on live TV at Intent.Insight thatthe language law in Ukraine is not aimed at Ukrainianization, but at de-Russification of the country, which has long been subjected to linguistic abuse and Russification.

Odesa region ranks second in terms of the number of appeals regarding violations of the language law. Kyiv is the leader in the anti-rating.

In the summer, a language-related scandal erupted in the resort village of Zatoka in Odesa Oblast when the owner of a catering establishment refused to serve a customer in Ukrainian.

Ірина Глухова