Pressure on the language issue: regional newspapers must switch to the Ukrainian language starting today

In Ukraine, pressure and restrictions on the Russian language continue. Starting today, a provision of the law on the Ukrainian language comes into effect, requiring regional newspapers to switch to the Ukrainian language.

This was reminded by the office of the Commissioner for the Protection of the Ukrainian Language on their website.

The law was passed exactly five years ago, in July 2019. Initially, the provision regarding the Ukrainian language only applied to national newspapers, which were required to print at least half of their circulation in Ukrainian.

However, for the vast majority of publications that cannot afford to publish in two languages due to financial constraints, this effectively means a requirement to fully transition to the Ukrainian language.