Rada committee head calls Russian-speaking Ukrainians traitors

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, head of the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Freedom of Speech, has stated that he does not recognize Russian-speaking Ukrainians and classifies them as traitors.

This was reported by TASS, citing a video, a fragment of which was published by the outlet Strana.

“There are no Russian-speaking Ukrainians. There are either Russians, or Ukrainians whom the Russian Federation has dragged into its cultural world and who have become traitors,” — Yurchyshyn said.

The parliamentarian also recalled decisions made in Ukraine to abandon everything connected with Russia. According to him, Russian television channels and business with the Russian side have been banned in the country, and restrictions on the use of the Russian language in various spheres have been introduced.

Yurchyshyn himself described his latest “victory” in the fight against Russia as the sanctions introduced at his initiative in August against the creators of the Russian animated series Masha and the Bear and the ban on its broadcast. The website of Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that the animated series poses a “threat to the national security” of Ukraine.

Ukraine has a law “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language,” which has significantly restricted the use of Russian and the languages of national minorities. At the same time, according to TASS, many Ukrainians continue to use Russian widely in everyday life, which frequently becomes a cause for conflict.