Russia’s Lavrov falsely asserts that Kyiv’s mayor banned use of the Russian language

During an April 4 roundtable discussion with foreign diplomats, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that the mayor of Kyiv had banned the use of the Russian language in daily life even though – according to Lavrov – most Ukrainians still speak Russian:

“Recently, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko adopted a resolution prohibiting any cultural or educational events in Russian from being held in Kyiv. Even in everyday life, if anyone speaks Russian at school during breaks, or addresses a shop assistant in Russian, they can face administrative charges. At the same time, the vast majority of Ukrainians still speak Russian. They find it convenient.”

Lavrov’s claim that Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko banned Russian is false.

Klitschko did not introduce any restrictions on speaking Russian. Last July, however, the Kyiv City Council imposed a moratorium on the public use of Russian-language cultural products, including music, films and books.

As of August 2023, polls showed that most Ukrainians were speaking only Ukrainian in daily life.

On April 11, Klitschko told the Voice of America’s Ukrainian service in response to Lavrov’s April 4 comments:

“The use of the Ukrainian (state) language is regulated by the law of Ukraine. The city authorities enforce the laws. They have no authority to regulate the use of languages. All events, according to the law, take place in the Ukrainian language. Regarding what language a person speaks in everyday life, there are no fines; there is no administrative responsibility.”

This was not the first time that Lavrov claimed the mayor of Kyiv had banned Russian. Last December 28, he told two Russian state media outlets, the RIA Novosti news agency and the Rossiya 24 TV channel:

“[S]everal months ago Vladimir Klitschko banned the use of Russian in all spheres in Kiev: in the cultural and social spheres and in everyday life. However, the majority of people continue to speak Russian.”

Last July 13, a majority of the Kyiv City Council approved a moratorium on the public use of Russian-language cultural products in the city, banning the performance and reproduction of Russian-language songs, movies, concerts, theatrical and circus performances, book sales, etc.

“Russian is the language of the aggressor country, and it has no place in the heart of our capital,” said Vadim Vasilchuk, a member of the Kyiv City Council and chairman of its standing committee on education and science, youth and sports, the day the moratorium was passed.

Earlier, on January 27, 2023, the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA), located in Kyiv, banned the use of the Russian language on university grounds.

Ukrainian is the official language across Ukraine, including in Kyiv. On April 25, 2019, Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, adopted the law “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language.”

According to that law, using the Ukrainian language is mandatory for government bodies and in public spheres. Several provisions of the language law came into force immediately, but certain norms were introduced over subsequent years.

The law came into force in Ukraine’s service sector on January 16, 2021. It meant that all enterprises, organizations and stores were obliged to serve consumers and provide information about goods and services in Ukrainian. “Information can be duplicated in other languages, and at the client’s request, they can be personally served in any other language acceptable to the parties,” the law states.

The Rating Sociological Group, a Kyiv-based NGO and independent research organization, surveyed 6,050 Ukrainian residents from August 16 to 20, 2023. When asked, “What language do you use at home?”, 59% of the respondents said they only spoke Ukrainian in daily life, while 31% said they spoke both Ukrainian and Russian. Only 9% said Russian was the language they mainly used in daily life.

An even larger share of the respondents, 82%, called Ukrainian their native language, while only 16% said the same about Russian.

Over December 4-27, 2022, the International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), a private Ukrainian research center based in Kyiv, surveyed 2,005 respondents across Ukraine. Of those, 58% said they communicated exclusively or mostly in Ukrainian, while 15% said they communicated exclusively or mostly in Russian. Another 24% said they used both languages “equally.”