Ukraine begins checking language use in building chats — Russian language use faces a warning

A representative of the language ombudsman, Elizaveta Sachura, has announced that communication in residential building chats must be conducted in Ukrainian, and that correspondence in Russian will result in sanctions.

She wrote about this on Facebook.

According to Sachura, the reason for the clarification was a specific case in Cherkasy Oblast: the head of a condominium association (OSMD) was communicating in the building’s Viber chat in Russian, considering it a private matter. In his defense, he cited Article 10 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which guarantees the free development and use of minority languages.

However, the official’s position was refuted during an inspection.

“During state oversight measures, it was proven that an OSMD is a legal entity. And the Viber chat, which is in practice the sole communication channel for co-owners, is a space in which official duties are carried out, and [communication] must be conducted in the state language. The right of co-owners to receive information in the state language is protected by law,” Sachura wrote.

Following the inspection, the OSMD chairman was found to have violated the requirements of Article 30 of the language law. He was issued a warning and required to remedy the violations within 30 days.

Sachura also noted that as of the end of 2024, there were more than 40,000 OSMDs in Ukraine, and suggested that “such situations are not isolated cases.” She urged citizens to file complaints about Russian-language correspondence in building chats.

The day before, the language ombudsman threatened parents of schoolchildren with fines for using Russian in school chats. Previously, well-known Kyiv football goalkeeping coach Vyacheslav Bogodelov was fined 11,500 hryvnias for using Russian during training sessions.