Russian language in Ukraine

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Members of a pro-Russian association supporting the decision of the Kharkiv City Council to make the Russian language official on the local level.

Russian is the major minority language in Ukraine. It is the most common first language in Donbass, Odessa and Crimea regions, the most commonly used language in east and south cities of the country as well as in its capital, Kiev, and the most widespread second language throughout Ukraine. The usage and status of the language is an object of political disputes within Ukrainian society and the considerable Russian minority of the country. The number of Russian-teaching schools has been systematically reduced since Ukrainian independence in 1991 and now it is much lower than the proportion of Russophones,[1][2][3] however higher than proportion of ethnic Russians.

Russian language and culture dominates (parts of) Ukraine’s public sphere, but nonetheless (some) Russian politicians have portrayed the Ukrainian government’s desultory attempts to expand the use of Ukrainian in the media and schools in the eastern and southern parts of the country and the more Ukrainian-oriented central and western parts as outrageous violations of human rights.[4]

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko has stated that Ukraine should give "full support to the development of the languages of national minorities"[5] and the Law on Education grants Ukrainian families (parents and their children) a right to choose their native language for schools and studies.[6] The Russian language is still studied as a required course in all secondary schools, including those with Ukrainian as the primary language of instructions[7].

Contents

[edit] History of Russian language in Ukraine

Main article: History of Russian language in Ukraine

Although the ancestors of a small ethnic group of Russians - Goriuns resided in Putyvl region (what is modern northern Ukraine) in the times of Grand Duchy of Lithuania or perhaps even earlier[8][9], the Russian language in Ukraine has primarily come to exist in that country through two channels: the migration of ethnic Russians into Ukraine and through the adoption of the Russian language by Ukrainians.

[edit] Russian settlers

The first new waves of Russian settlers onto Ukrainian territory came in the late 16th century to the empty lands of Slobozhanschyna, in what is now northeastern Ukraine, that Russia gained from the Tatars [9], although they were outnumbered by Ukrainian peasants escaping harsh exploitative conditions from the west [10].

More Russian speakers appeared in northern, central and eastern Ukrainian territories during the late 17th century, following the Cossack Rebellion led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky. The Uprising led to a massive movement of Ukrainian settlers to the Slobozhanschyna region, which converted it from a sparsely inhabited frontier area to one of the major populated regions of the Tsardom of Russia. Following the Pereyaslav Rada the modern northern and eastern parts of Ukraine entered into the Russian Tsardom. This brought the first significant, but still small, wave of Russian settlers into central Ukraine (primarily several thousand soldiers stationed in garrisons,[10] out of a population of approximately 1.2 million [11] non-Russians). Although the number of Russian settlers in Ukraine prior to the eighteenth century was small, the local upper classes within the part of Ukraine acquired by Russia came to use the Russian language widely.

Beginning in the late eighteenth century, large numbers of Russians settled in newly acquired lands in southern Ukraine, a region then known as Novorossiya ("New Russia"). These lands had been largely empty prior to the eighteenth century due to the threat of Crimean Tatar raids, but once the Tatar state was eliminated as a threat, Russian nobles were granted large tracts of fertile land that was worked by newly arrived peasants, most of whom were ethnic Ukrainians but many of whom were Russians[12].

[edit] Dramatic increase of Russian settlers

The nineteenth century saw a dramatic increase in the urban Russian population in Ukraine, as Russian settlers moved into and populated the newly industrialized and growing towns. This phenomenon helped turn Ukraine's most important towns into Russophone environments. By the beginning of the 20th century the Russians were the largest ethnic group in almost all of Ukraine's largest cities, including the following: Kiev (54,2%), Kharkiv (63,1%), Odessa (49,09%), Mykolaiv (66,33%), Mariupol (63,22%), Luhansk, (68,16%), Kherson (47,21%), Melitopol (42,8%), Dnipropetrovsk, (41,78%), Kirovohrad (34,64%), Simferopol (45,64%), Yalta (66,17%), Kerch (57,8%), Sevastopol (63,46%) [13]. The Ukrainian migrants who settled in these cities entered a Russian speaking milieu and, for the most part, adopted the Russian language.

[edit] Suppressing of the Ukrainian language

The Russian government promoted the spread of the Russian language among the native Ukrainian population by actively suppressing the Ukrainian language. Alarmed by the threat of Ukrainian separatism implied by a growing number of school textbooks teaching the Ukrainian language, the Russian Minister of Internal Affairs Pyotr Valuev in 1863 issued a secret decree that banned the publication of religious texts and educational texts written in the Ukrainian language [14]. This ban was expanded by Tsar Alexander II who issued the Ems Ukaz in 1876. All Ukrainian language books and song lyrics were banned, as was the importation of such works. Furthermore, Ukrainian-language public performances, plays, and lectures were forbidden.[15] In 1881, the decree was amended to allow the publishing of lyrics and dictionaries, and the performances of some plays in the Ukrainian language with local officials' approval. Ukrainian-only troupes were, however, forbidden. Nonetheless only 9% of population before the October Revolution spoke Russian language according to the Russian Census of 1897.

During Soviet times, while officially, there was no state language in the Soviet Union until 1989, Russian was in practice in a privileged position, implicitly because it was the language of the once great Russian Empire - Mother Russia. The Ukrainian language as the rest of regional languages was often frowned upon or quietly discouraged, which led to a gradual decline in its usage.[16] From around 1960s all dissertations were required to be written in Russian only and submitted only in Moscow. That made most if not all of the scientific works to be written exclusively in Russian. Soviet media and films portrayed the Ukrainian language as the language of culturally and intellectually undeveloped population in contrast to Russian. Exactly the same status the Ukrainian language had during the times of the Russian Empire when it was used only for comedian purposes. Studying Russian in all schools was not an option, but the requirement and later in 1980s the teaching of it was ordered to be improved.

[edit] Modern usage

[edit] 2001 Census

Percentage of people with Russian as their native language according to 2001 census (in regions).
Percentage of people who prefer to use Russian according to 2003 survey by KIIS (in macroregions).

According to official data from the 2001 Ukrainian census, the Russian language is native for over 14,273,000 Ukrainian citizens (29.3% of the total population).[17] Ethnic Russians form 56% of the total Russian-speaking population, while the remaining Russophones are people of other ethnic background: 5,545,000 Ukrainians, 172,000 Belarusians, 86,000 Jews, 81,000 Greeks, 62,000 Bulgarians, 46,000 Moldavians, 43,000 Tartars, 43,000 Armenians, 22,000 Poles, 21,000 Germans, 15,000 Crimean Tartars.

Therefore the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine forms the largest linguistic group in modern Europe with its language being non-official in the state. The Russian-speaking population of Ukraine constitutes the largest Russophone community outside the Russian Federation.

[edit] Polls

According to a 2004 public opinion poll by the Kiev International Sociology Institute, the number of people using Russian language at their homes considerably exceeds the number of those who declared Russian as their native language in the census. According to the survey, Russian is used at home by 43–46% of the population of the country (in other words a similar proportion to Ukrainian) and Russophones make a majority of the population in Eastern and Southern regions of Ukraine:[18]

Russian language dominates in informal communication in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev.[19][20] It is also used by a sizeable linguistic minority (4-5% of the total population) in Central and Western Ukraine.[21]

According to data obtained by the "Public opinion" foundation (2002), the population of the oblast centres prefers to use Russian (75%).[22] Continuous Russian linguistic areas occupy certain regions of Crimea, Donbass, Slovozhanschyna, southern parts of Odessa and Zaporizhia oblasts, while Russian linguistic enclaves exist in central Ukraine and Bukovina.

Native language (according to annual surveys by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences):[23]
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Russian language 34.7 37.8 36.1 35.1 36.5 36.1 35.1 38.1 34.5 38.1 35.7 34.1
Spoken language in family (at home) (according to annual surveys by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences) [23]
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Mainly Russian 32.4 32.8 33.1 34.5 33.4 33.6 36.0 36.7 33.2 36.0 34.3 36.4
Both Russian and Ukrainian 29.4 34.5 29.6 26.8 28.4 29.0 24.8 25.8 28.0 25.2 26.3 21.6

[edit] Russian language in Ukrainian politics

Russophone activists collect signatures in support of introducing the Russian language as regional in Odessa, 2007

The Russian language in Ukraine is not a state language, and is only recognized as language of a national minority. As such, the Russian language is explicitly mentioned in the Constitution of Ukraine adopted by the parliament in 1996. Article 10 of the Constitution reads: "In Ukraine, the free development, use and protection of Russian, and other languages of national minorities of Ukraine, is guaranteed".[24] The Constitution declares Ukrainian language as the state language of the country, while other languages spoken in Ukraine are guaranteed constitutional protection. The Ukrainian language was adopted as the state language by the Law on Languages adopted in Ukrainian SSR in 1989; Russian was specified as the language of communication with the other republics of Soviet Union.[25]

Ukraine signed the European Charter on Regional or Minority Languages in 1996, and ratified it as late as in 2002 when the Parliament adopted the law that partly implemented the charter.[26] Since then, there no specific law were adopted to define the territory and measures to protect the Russian language.

[edit] Second official language?

Do you consider it necessary to make Russian an official language in Ukraine? (according to annual surveys by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences):[23]
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Yes 52.0 50.9 43.9 47.6 46.7 44.0 47.4 48.6 47.3 47.5 48.6
Hard to say 15.3 16.1 20.6 15.3 18.1 19.3 16.2 20.0 20.4 20.0 16.8
No 32.6 32.9 35.5 37.0 35.1 36.2 36.0 31.1 31.9 32.2 34.4
No answer 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.1
Support for Russian language as the 2nd official[27]

The issue of Russian receiving status of second official language has been the subject of extended controversial discussion ever since Ukraine became independent in 1991. In every Ukrainian election, many politicians, such as Leonid Kuchma, used their promise of making Russian a second state language to win support. (The former Prime Minister and) current leader of the Party of Regions Viktor Yanukovych continued this practice. But in an interview with Kommersant during the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election-campaign he stated that the statued of Russian in Ukraine "is too politicized" and said that if elected President in 2010 he would "have a real opportunity to adopt a law on languages, which implements the requirements of the European Charter of regional languages". He implied these law would need 226 votes in the Ukrainian parliament (50% of the votes instead of the 75% of the votes needed to change the constitution of Ukraine).[28]

Current president Viktor Yushchenko, during his 2004 Presidential campaign, also claimed a willingness to introduce more equality for Russian speakers. His clipping service spread an announcement of his promise to make Russian language proficiency obligatory for officials who interact with Russian-speaking citizens.[29] In 2005 Yushchenko stated that he had never signed this decree project.[30] The controversy was seen by some as a deliberate policy of Ukrainization.[31][32]

In 2006 the Kharkiv City Rada was the first to declare Russian to be a regional language.[33] Following that, almost all southern and eastern oblasts (Luhansk, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts), and major cities (Sevastopol, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Yalta, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kryvyi Rih, Odessa) followed suit. By ruling of several courts, decision to change the status of the Russian language in the cities of Kryvyi Rih, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Mykolaiv have been overturned while in Donetsk, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv oblasts it was retained.[34] According to survey by "Research and Branding group" (June, 2006) the majority of the interviewed supported the decisions of local authorities: 52% largely supported (including 69% of population of eastern oblasts and 56% of southern regions), 34% largely did not support the decisions, 9% - answered "partially support and partially not", 5% had no opinion.[35]

According to an all-Ukrainian poll carried out in February 2008 by "Ukrainian Democratic Circle" only 15% of those polled said that the language issue should be immediately solved[36], in November 2009 this was 14.7%; in the November 2009 poll 35.8% wanted both the Russian and Ukrainian language to be state languages.[37]

[edit] Discrimination

Although officially the Russian-speaking population is about 30% (2001 census), 39% of the Ukrainians interviewed in a 2006 survey thinks that the rights of the Russophones are violated[38] because the Russian language is not official in the country, whereas 38% had the opposite position.[39][40]

On a cross-national survey only 0.5% of respondents felt they were discriminated against because of their language.[41]

According to a poll carried out by the Social Research Center at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy of late 2009 ideological issues were ranked third (15%) as reasons to organized mass protest actions (in particular, the issues of joining NATO, the status of the Russian language, the activities of left- and right-wing political groups, etc.); behind economic issues (25%) and problems of ownership (17%).[42]

[edit] Linguistic issues and National Perspective

Ukraine is a unitary state, yet language issue is always the part of a political discussion. Almost 80% of population consider themselves being Ukrainians, which almost as much as Russians in the neighboring Russian Federation. Interesting is the fact that in the federate Russian state the language issue is less pluralized. Amongst the most deprived of their national rights seem to be the Russians of Ukraine. Even though both languages are somewhat similar, nonetheless, for Russian Ukrainians it is the most difficult to adopt than the other nationalities. Unlike Russians, for example, Polish people are less categorical against knowledge of a domestic language. The reason for it usually, because for Russians the Ukrainian language is considered to be less culturally developed. That way of thinking can be traced to the Russian mass-media, and particularly the most popular throughout the former Soviet Union Channel One (Russia) (former ORT) that used to air the racially-oriented program Odnako by Leontyev. Russians perceive Ukrainians as the Cossacks on the painting Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks or the fascists-Banderamen (banderovtsy). All of those stereotypes are fueled by the main Russian mass media and press in the Russian Federation who not only do not differentiate between Nazis and Fascists, they simply pile up in one big mess.

[edit] Education in Russian

The Law on Education grants Ukrainian families (parents and their children) a right to choose their native language for schools and studies.[6]

The amount of Russian-teaching schools has been systematically reduced since 1991 and now it is much lower than the proportion of Russophones.[1][2][3] The Russian-speaking population (according to 2001 census) and percentage of the students receiving education in Russian language in 2006/2007 is shown in the table below.[43]

The Russian language is still studied as a required course in all secondary schools, including those with Ukrainian as the primary language of instructions[7]. The Ukrainian language is studied as a required course in all Russian language schools.[44]

Region Percentage
of the Russian
speaking citizens		 Percentage of citizens of
Russian descent
 Percentage of
pupils in Russian
speaking schools		 Percentage of
students in І–ІІ
level high schools
(in Russian-speaking groups)		 Percentage of
students in ІII–ІV
level high schools
(in Russian-speaking groups)
Autonomous Republic of Crimea 77 58 92 97 86,5
Cherkasy Oblast 6,7 5 1 - 0,1
Chernihiv Oblast 10 5 1 - 4
Chernivtsi Oblast 5,3 4 1 - -
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast 32 17 21 6 20
Donetsk Oblast 75 38 67 63 63
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast 1,8 1 0,2 - -
Kharkiv Oblast 44 25 27 8 25
Kherson Oblast 25 14 16,5 12 29
Khmelnytskyi Oblast 4,1 3 0,4 - 0,2
Kiev Oblast 7,2 6 1 - -
Kirovohrad Oblast 3,5 7 3,5 - 10
Luhansk Oblast 69 39 63 37 52,5
Lviv Oblast 3,8 3 1 4 -
Mykolaiv Oblast 29 14 11 - 0,2
Odessa Oblast 42 20 30 16 23,4
Poltava oblast 9,5 7 3 - 0,4
Rivne Oblast 2,5 2 0,1 - -
Sumy Oblast 16 9 6 - 0,2
Ternopil Oblast 1,2 1 0,1 - -
Vinnytsia Oblast 4,7 3 1 - -
Volyn Oblast 2,5 2 0,3 - -
Zakarpattia Oblast 2,9 2 1 6 -
Zaporizhia Oblast 48 24 37 10 15
Zhytomyr Oblast 6,6 5 1 - 3
City of Kiev 30  ? 3 5 3
City of Sevastopol 90  ? 98 100 96
Total 29,6 17 20 15 17

[edit] Russian in courts

Since January 1, 2010 it is allowed to hold court proceedings in Russian on mutual consent of parties. Citizens, who are unable to speak Ukrainian or Russian are allowed to use their native language or the services of a translator.[45]

[edit] See also

[edit] Bibliography

  • Русские говоры Сумской области. Сумы, 1998. — 160 с ISBN 966-7413-01-2
  • Русские говоры на Украине. Киев: Наукова думка, 1982. — 231 с.
  • Степанов, Є. М.: Російське мовлення Одеси: Монографія. За редакцією д-ра філол. наук, проф. Ю. О. Карпенка, Одеський національний університет ім. І. І. Мечнікова. Одеса: Астропринт, 2004. — 494 с.
  • Фомин А. И. Языковой вопрос в Украине: идеология, право, политика. Монография. Второе издание, дополненное. — Киев: Журнал «Радуга». — 264 с ISBN 966-8325-65-6
  • Rebounding Identities: The Politics of Identity in Russia and Ukraine. Edited by Dominique Arel and Blair A. Ruble Copub. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. 384 pages. ISBN 0801885620 and ISBN 9780801885624
  • Bilaniuk, Laada. Contested Tongues: Language Politics And Cultural Correction in Ukraine. Cornell University Press, 2005. 256 pages. ISBN 9780801443497
  • Laitin, David Dennis. Identity in Formation: The Russian-Speaking Populations in the Near Abroad. Cornell University Press, 1998. 417 pages. ISBN 0801484952

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Vasyl Ivanyshyn, Yaroslav Radevych-Vynnyts'kyi, Mova i Natsiya, Drohobych, Vidrodzhennya, 1994, ISBN 5-7707-5898-8
  2. ^ a b "the number of Ukrainian secondary schools has increased to 15,900, or 75% of their total number. In all, about 4.5 million students (67.4% of the total) are taught in Ukrainian, in Russian – 2.1 million (31.7%)..."
    "Annual Report of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights “On the situation with observance and protection of human rights and freedoms in Ukraine” for the period from April 14, 1998 till December 31, 1999"
  3. ^ a b Volodymyr Malynkovych, Ukrainian perspective, Politicheskiy Klass, January, 2006
  4. ^ The Key to Kyiv by Adrian Karatnycky and Alexander J. Motyl, Council on Foreign Relations (May 3, 2009)
  5. ^ All schools should have enough Ukrainian language and literature teachers by September 1, says president, Interfax-Ukraine (June 10, 2009)
  6. ^ a b Ukraine/ Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 10th edition, Council of Europe (2009)
  7. ^ a b Press-release of the Ukrainian Ministry for Education and Science
  8. ^ F.D. Klimchuk, About ethnoliguistic history of Left Bank of Dnieper (in connection to the ethnogenesis of Goriuns). Published in "Goriuns: history, language, culture" Proceedings of International scientific conferenc, (Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences, February 13, 2004)
  9. ^ a b Russians in Ukraine
  10. ^ a b Display Page
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ [2]
  13. ^ Дністрянський М.С. Етнополітична географія України. Лівів Літопис, видавництво ЛНУ імені Івана Франка, 2006, page 342 isbn = 966-700760-4
  14. ^ Miller, Alexei (203). The Ukrainian Question. The Russian Empire and Nationalism in the Nineteenth Century. Budapest-New York: Central European University Press. ISBN 963-9241-60-1. 
  15. ^ Magoscy, R. (1996). A History of Ukraine. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 
  16. ^ Language policy in the Soviet Union by Lenore A. Grenoble
  17. ^ "Results / General results of the census / Linguistic composition of the population". 2001 Ukrainian Census. http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/language/. Retrieved August 28, 2006. 
  18. ^ "Portrait of Yushchenko and Yanukovych electorates" (in Russian). Analitik. http://www.analitik.org.ua/researches/archives/3dee44d0/41ecef0cad01e/. Retrieved March 7, 2007. 
  19. ^ Лариса Масенко
  20. ^ "Byurkhovetskiy: Klichko - ne sornyak i ne buryan, i emu nuzhno vyrasti" (in Russian). Korrespondent. http://www.korrespondent.net/main/print/148750. Retrieved March 7, 2007. 
  21. ^ "In Ukraine there are more Russian language speakers than Ukrainian ones" (in Russian). Evraziyskaya panorama. http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2002/059/panorama01.php#13. Retrieved March 7, 2007. 
  22. ^ Евразийская панорама
  23. ^ a b c "Ukrainian society 1994-2005: sociological monitoring" (in Ukrainian). http://dif.org.ua/. http://dif.org.ua/modules/pages/files/us5.pdf/. Retrieved April 10, 2007. 
  24. ^ Article 10 of the Constitution says: "The state language of Ukraine is the Ukrainian language. The State ensures the comprehensive development and functioning of the Ukrainian language in all spheres of social life throughout the entire territory of Ukraine. In Ukraine, the free development, use and protection of Russian, and other languages of national minorities of Ukraine, is guaranteed."
  25. ^ On Languages in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Law. 1989 (in English)
  26. ^ В.Колесниченко. «Европейская хартия региональных языков или языков меньшинств. Отчет о ее выполнении в Украине, а также о ситуации с правами языковых меньшинств и проявлениями расизма и нетерпимости»
  27. ^ In regions, according to 2005 survey by the National Institute of Strategic Research
  28. ^ (Russian) "Доверия к Тимошенко у меня нет и быть не может", Kommersant (December 9, 2009)
  29. ^ Clipping service of Viktor Yuschenko. "Yuschenko guarantee equal rights for Russian and other minority languages - Decree project". http://www.yuschenko.com.ua/rus/Future/decrees/1318/. Retrieved April 10, 2007. 
  30. ^ Lenta.ru. "Yuschenko appealed to Foreign Office to forget Russian language". http://lenta.ru/news/2005/07/18/mvd/. Retrieved April 10, 2007. 
  31. ^ An interview with Prof. Lara Sinelnikova, Русский язык на Украине – проблема государственной безопасности, Novyi Region, 19.09.06
  32. ^ Tatyana Krynitsyna, Два языка - один народ, Kharkiv Branch of the Party of Regions, 09.12.2005
  33. ^ http://pravopys.vlada.kiev.ua/index.php?id=487
  34. ^ "Russian language in Odessa is acknowledged as the second official government language ..." (in Russian). Newsru.com. http://www.newsru.com/world/06apr2007/katsapskamovavodesse.html. Retrieved March 7, 2007. 
  35. ^ УРА-Информ :: Версия для печати
  36. ^ 80% of Ukrainians do not consider language issue a top-priority, UNIAN (23 February 2009)
  37. ^ Poll: more than half of Ukrainians do not consider language issue pressing, Kyiv Post (November 25, 2009)
  38. ^ According to parliamentary deputy Vadym Kolesnichenko, the official policies of the Ukrainian state are discriminatory towards the Russian-speaking population. The Russian language population received 12 times less state funds then the tiny Romanian-speaking population in 2005-2006. The schooling in Russian is nearly stopped in all central and western oblasts and Kiev. The Russian language is not available anymore in higher education in all Ukraine, including the areas with a Russian-speaking majority. The broadcasting in Russian averaged 11.6% (TV) and 3.5% (radio) in 2005. Kolesnichenko is a member of Party of Regions with majority of electorate in eastern and south Russian-speaking regions.
  39. ^ Большинство украинцев говорят на русском языке // Podrobnosti.Ua
  40. ^ Украинцы лучше владеют русским языком, чем украинским: соцопрос - Новости России - ИА REGNUM
  41. ^ Evhen Golovakha, Andriy Gorbachyk, Natalia Panina, "Ukraine and Europe: Outcomes of International Comparative Sociological Survey", Kiev, Institute of Sociology of NAS of Ukraine, 2007, ISBN 978-966-02-4352-1, pp. 133-135 in Section: "9. Social discrimination and migration" (pdf)
  42. ^ Poll: economic issues and problems of ownership main reasons for public protests, Kyiv Post (December 4, 2009)
  43. ^ Как соблюдается в Украине языковая Хартия?
  44. ^ Ukraine Seeks Nationwide Linguistic Revival, Voice of America (November 13, 2008)
  45. ^ Rada Allows To Hold Court Proceedings In Russian Language On Mutual Consent Of Parties, Ukrainian News Agency (June 24, 2009)
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