The Zaporizhzhya Regional Administrative Court invalidated the assignment of the regional status to the Russian language on the territory of the region in 2012. On Tuesday, April 6, the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Taras Kremen announced this on Facebook.
“Finally, the decision to recognize the Russian language as a regional language on the territory of the Zaporozhye region was canceled <...>. The Zaporizhzhya District Administrative Court ruled to recognize as illegal and invalid the decision of the regional council of 16.08.2012 “On measures aimed at using regional or minority languages provided for by the law of Ukraine” On the foundations of state language policy “on the territory of the Zaporizhzhya region,” he wrote …
Kremen also recalled that the court’s decision comes into legal force upon the expiration of the deadline for filing appeals by all participants in the case.
In February, Kremen said that in a month he received 605 complaints due to the use of the Russian language. Most of the requests refer to the lack of a Ukrainian version of websites on the provision of services and websites of online stores.
In April 2019, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the final reading the law “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language.” The document provided for the creation of a special “language commission” that will monitor compliance with the law, the introduction of examinations for officials that determine the level of knowledge of the Ukrainian language, and fines for violation of the law.
The norm on the compulsory use of the Ukrainian language in the service sector on the territory of Ukraine entered into force on January 16, 2021. In the first two weeks, over 300 complaints were received due to violations of the law – in particular, due to refusal to provide services in the state language, the lack of a Ukrainian-language version of documents, signs and price tags.
On January 26, the Ukrainian party “Opposition Platform – For Life” announced that the operation of the language law is genocide against the Russian-speaking population. The deputies noted that people who express a desire to speak Russian are harassed.