Caused a scandal and filmed it: Nytsoy got into an argument with a Russian-speaking taxi driver veteran and accused him of bringing the “Russian world”

The well-known children’s author and advocate for Ukrainian language policy, Larysa Nitsoi, engaged in a heated argument about language with a Russian-speaking taxi driver, who turned out to be a war veteran.

She posted a video of the emotional conversation on her Facebook page.

Nitsoi demanded that the man stop speaking Russian, to which the taxi driver responded that he had been through combat and would speak “however he pleased.”

“Listen, have you been on the front lines? No? Well, I have, and I will speak however I want,” the veteran said.

Nitsoi replied that his personal experience was irrelevant because, in her view, he was “bringing the Russian world from the war back to the home front.”

“What does it matter that you’ve been there? You brought the Russian world back from the war and continue to reinforce it here. Putin wants the Russian language, and you, coming from the front, also want the Russian language,” Nitsoi stated.

She even suggested that the former soldier might be a saboteur simply because he spoke Russian.

When Nitsoi argued that, having fought for Ukraine, he should speak Ukrainian, the man replied that he “did not fight for this country” but for his family.

“For him, the occupiers are close, he is of the same breed as them—linguistically. I didn’t fight for this country. Russian world syndrome. Save yourselves from this linguistic plague while there’s still time, and protect your children from it. Ukrainians’ native language is Ukrainian!” Nitsoi commented on the incident.

This is not the first time Nitsoi has caused controversy over language issues with taxi drivers. Previously, she publicly lashed out at a driver from the Uklon taxi service, calling him a “rapist” and an “anti-Ukrainian parasite” for not speaking Ukrainian.

Her husband, Andriy Nitsoi, has also been involved in similar incidents. He once boasted about spending two consecutive days “fighting” with store clerks in a rural shop to get them to serve him in Ukrainian.