President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasised that the Russian language has never been banned in Ukraine and that the current negative attitude towards it is solely a result of Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine.
In an interview with American podcaster Lex Friedman, Zelenskyy addressed claims that Russian was banned in Ukraine, calling them false. “This is not true. I am answering you… We have people who speak Russian,” he said.
Zelenskyy underlined that disrespect for the Russian language today stems directly from Russia’s actions. “We have disrespect for Russian today because of Russians. And only because of them. When they were ‘saving’ Russian speakers, they killed many Russian-speaking people. Most of them are in the East… They destroyed their homes, destroyed their lives,” the President said.
He also rejected the narrative promoted by Vladimir Putin that Ukrainians and Russians are “one nation.”
“This is a very important point. The message is that we are not one nation. And we are not one country,” Zelenskyy stated, adding, “The most important thing is what we say, not how we say it.”