Words that Define Us: How Language Protects Ukrainian Identity

Source: Author’s Facebook page

Beginning with the new academic year, Russia intends to eliminate the Ukrainian language from primary, secondary, and general education programs in the occupied territories.

Until now, in the territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions occupied by Russia — areas where Ukrainians have always been the ethnic majority — parents could still choose Ukrainian as the language of instruction for their children. Statistics show that in 2023, 46% of parents in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region made this choice.

That option is no longer available. Ukrainians are being pushed to the margins in the occupied territories — treated as unnecessary, even dangerous.

Meanwhile, debates continue in Ukrainian society, with some compatriots urging not to focus on language issues, arguing that it divides the nation. At the same time, Russia is uniting everyone — in Russian. And this has always been the case. It was Putin who abolished the requirement to teach the native languages of ethnic groups in Russia’s national republics. And there have been no Ukrainian-language schools in the Russian Federation since the Holodomor in the Kuban.

I remember all too well the circles of hell that Ukrainians in the Russian capital had to endure to gain permission to open even a Sunday school for Ukrainian children. Needless to say, that school no longer exists. Its organizer, an elderly man, was forced to flee Russia after the outbreak of the full-scale war, under threat of arrest.

This starkly illustrates the vast civilizational divide between the two warring states. Russia understands perfectly well that language matters. It uses the Russian language as a tool of Russification — wherever its influence extends. It dismantles the national identity of conquered peoples piece by piece and then uses them as cannon fodder in its campaigns against others. Simultaneously, it defends the interests of the Russian language wherever it manages to entrench it. This is why the Kremlin has always insisted — and will continue to insist — on special status for the Russian language as a condition for ending the Russian-Ukrainian war. There should be no doubt about that.

And yet Ukrainians continue to tell themselves that their identity can thrive regardless of the language they speak. They continue to place the Russian language into the minds of their children. They continue to accuse those who raise this issue of chasing popularity. In doing so, they risk winning the battle — but losing the war. And so they remain a colonized people, singing along with those who persistently wield their language as a civilizational dagger.

Recall that recently, Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin personally intervened in the educational process, taking control of the content of history textbooks in schools. During a closed meeting with editors of educational materials, the Russian dictator criticized old editions written before the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine, stating that they were allegedly “impregnated with Russophobia” and “distortion of historical facts.”

At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Education announced the exclusion of the Ukrainian language from the federal educational program. The explanatory note to the draft order explicitly states that such a change is due to “changes in the geopolitical situation.” This means the complete elimination of the Ukrainian language from the official part of school education.

Earlier, the UK Ministry of Defense stated that the Russian education system is increasingly serving the interests of the Kremlin regime, becoming a lever for the militarization of society and a tool for the ideological indoctrination of young people.

Meanwhile, the Center for National Resistance reported that a new wave of repressions is unfolding in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine against those who remain loyal to Ukrainian citizenship. In addition, the Russian occupiers plan to “reform” education in the temporarily occupied Luhansk region. The invaders want to liquidate more than a hundred schools.

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