Ukrainian blogger: security forces speak Russian while parents are fined for language in chats

A Ukrainian blogger has expressed outrage over double standards in the application of language legislation: the language ombudsman demands the use of Ukrainian in building and school chats, while employees of law enforcement agencies themselves communicate in Russian.

The criticism was prompted by a published video of a recent shootout in Kyiv between SBU officers and representatives of the GUR. In the recording, the participants in the conflict speak Russian.

“Security services, just think about that, right? Holy sh*t, and parents in the parent chat have to communicate exclusively in the mother tongue. Because you can get hit with a fine of nearly 12,000 hryvnias,” the blogger said.

She also questioned whether the language ombudsman would be willing to respond to violations by representatives of the security services.

“Either this is different, or they, say, are allowed to? Is anyone going to fine them at all? Not for the shootout, but for speaking Russian?” the blogger asked.