One of the stated goals of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine was defending Russian-speaking populations who were allegedly being persecuted by Ukrainian nationalists. Ironically, since the start of the war, Russian speakers in Ukraine have been signing up for classes to improve their Ukrainian-language skills.
In Vyshhorod in the suburbs of Kyiv, around 12 women greet each other in the town hall where they have gathered on a Saturday morning. Dora and Roxanna fled Donbas in 2014 after the Donetsk and Luhansk regions were captured by pro-Russian militias armed and financed by Vladimir Putin’s government. Tatiana and Larissa are Russian and have lived in Ukraine for many years. And Olga, a Belorussian national, has lived in Kyiv since 2020.
All Russian speakers, they are here for the same reason: they want to improve their Ukrainian-language skills. Tatiana admitted finding the Ukrainian alphabet difficult. She has been coming to classes for three years and has made some progress. But “In everyday life, I still use Russian,” she said. Wearing a T-shirt in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, Roxanna said that Russian is her mother tongue. “I learned Ukrainian at school in Donetsk, but it’s not my language of choice. No one ever forced us to speak Ukrainian.”
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Russian speakers reject the 'language of the enemy' by learning Ukrainian
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