Zelensky’s Ukrainian language tutor, Avramenko, appears to be living in Spain, judging by Instagram

Well-known Ukrainian language teacher and promoter Oleksandr Avramenko, aged 54, has been accused online of leaving Ukraine during wartime. Avramenko is one of the highest-paid authors of Ukrainian language textbooks and frequently appeared on television as part of language promotion campaigns.

Speculation that he may be living in southern Europe arose from his Instagram account, where users noticed that the geolocation tagged in his profile changed to Spain. Back in September 2024, Avramenko posted a photo from a seaside beach.

One follower commented under the post: “Spain?” To which the profile’s owner replied that “Ukrainian men are prohibited from leaving the country, but I still love Spain.”

That post is no longer publicly available. Currently, the most recent post on his profile — a clip from a stand-up performance — is dated five weeks ago.

When contacted by journalists for comment, the linguist said he was busy working on a new textbook and was “very overloaded.”

In response to the controversy on social media and in the press, writer and translator Ostap Ukrainianets noted in a Facebook post that Avramenko was absent from a recent linguistics roundtable:

“And here I was wondering why Mr. Avramenko wasn’t present at the roundtable on Ukrainian language issues. Turns out he had a valid reason,” he wrote.

It’s worth noting that Ukrainian media had previously reported that Avramenko provided private Ukrainian language lessons to officials and celebrities, including to Volodymyr Zelensky when he headed the comedy studio Kvartal 95.

Reminder: Travel abroad for vacation is permitted for certain categories of men who are officially exempt from mobilization. Teachers, in particular, are among those who may hold such exemptions (known as “bron’”).