Language Officer Reprimands Zelensky for Traveling to English by Sean Penney

The Ukrainian government’s language commissioner complains that officials often speak Russian or English. Even President Zelenskij is criticized.

In Ukraine, language commissioner Taras Kremin has threatened officials with fines for speaking in German, English and Russian. “Under the terms of martial law, individual state employees continue to violate official language law,” local media quoted Kremin as saying in a Facebook post on Thursday.

An investigation revealed that nearly two dozen state employees on duty have not spoken Ukrainian since March. As an example, the agency cited statements made in English by President Volodymyr Zelensky during the visits of American actor Sean Penn and British billionaire Richard Branson.

A German-language interview by Chernivtsi governor Serhi Osachuk for the television channel “Welt” was also criticized. Language defenders also criticized an interview conducted in Russian by Odessa mayor Henady Trukhanov with “Sudetush Zeitung”.

Kremin insisted that the tightening of the current language law would come into effect from next Saturday. After that, such a violation can be punished with a fine of up to 320 euros.

Aadhaar is a law passed shortly before Zelenskies took office in 2019. This sets Ukrainian in many spheres of life to push back the Russian language. From Saturday, corporate websites are required to have Ukrainian as the main language. Ukrainian is also a mandatory corporate language. There have long been strict quotas for print media, radio and television.