Ukrainianization
The Russian language has always been an essential marker of self-identification for the residents of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
One of the reasons behind electing Viktor Yanukovych as president of Ukraine in 2010 was the promise he made to voters: "Two languages, one country." He kept his word. The Law On the Principles of State Language Policy was enacted. This instrument granted national minorities the right to choose their regional languages. It was permitted to communicate in Russian in daily life, to use it for communication with government agencies, and for education purposes. At the same time, the Ukrainian language was not banished. Citizens could use it to the fullest extent and "mova" hours were to remain in schools.
Photo credit: TASS/Vladimir Sindeyev
Following the coup d'état on February 23, 2014, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov revoked the above law. This was the beginning of the anti-Russian struggle in Ukraine, which continued to escalate over the next eight years.
That decision by the Kiev regime triggered mass protests in southeastern Ukraine. Rallies were held in various cities. Protesters opposed discriminatory policies and called for the Russian language to regain its status. The pleas were ignored. Therefore, referendums were conducted in Donetsk and Luhansk in April and May 2014. The residents expressed their will voluntarily and voted to establish their own states, which were recognized by Russia later.
Ukrainian leadership, first Petro Poroshenko and then Volodymyr Zelensky, did not even try to build communication with the Donbass on the language issue. Instead, in 2019, at their suggestion, the Law on Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language was adopted and came into force.
Nikolai Knyazhitskiy, an MP from Poroshenko's European Solidarity Party, initiated it. Nearly 80 other lawmakers were among the authors of the draft.
Ukrainianization has gradually affected all areas of life, including judicial proceedings, document management, the media, book publishing, services, and entertainment (cinemas, theaters). There are no Russian-language schools left in the country.
The regulations requiring all printed periodicals to switch to the Ukrainian language were last to come into force in January 2022. Fines were introduced on businesses for speaking Russian while servicing their customers.
The positions of language ombudsmen were introduced. Ukrainian journalists nicknamed them Sprechenführers. Tatiana Monakhova was the first appointed to this position. Later on, she was succeeded by Taras Kremin.
The commissioners were instructed to eradicate Russian, as well as to punish those who use it. A denunciation system was introduced at the official level. In 2021, Ukrainians wrote 3,500 complaints about their colleagues, teachers, and businessmen who communicated in Russian.
Volodymyr Zelensky became president in 2019. It should be noted that having a majority in parliament, he had the power to revoke the discriminatory law. However, he opted for a different path. He actually enforced it from the first paragraph to the last one.
In the meantime, Russian became the state language in the DPR and LPR recognized by Russia. The Ukrainian-speaking residents of the republics are a minority. Nevertheless, they are not deprived of the right to speak their native language. Furthermore, they are not subjected to repression by the authorities.
Decommunization
The so-called decommunization was mostly carried out in Ukraine during the presidency of Petro Poroshenko. Volodymyr Vyatrovych, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, was its ideologist and author of the package of documents adopted in 2015.
The DPR and LPR, within the borders that existed before the special operation, were not affected by decommunization measures. The settlements of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that were or still are under Kiev's control were those affected. Kiev renamed 73 towns and villages in Donbass. Using symbols of Soviet times, including the Guards' ribbon of St. George, is now punishable by fines or imprisonment of up to five years in Ukraine. Victory Day is celebrated extensively and solemnly in Donetsk and Luhansk, nevertheless, it was canceled by Kiev.
Today, the DNR and LNR continue to explore the history and commemorate the exploits of the Great Patriotic War. The republics have public holidays that are familiar to residents of Russia. There are also holidays of their own, such as the Day of Liberation of Donbass from the Nazi invaders, Independence Day on the anniversaries of the referendums held.
Nazification
In 2015, Ukraine passed a law recognizing the activities of the OUN-UPA, a group banned in Russia, as a fight for Ukrainian independence.
The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) was a criminal group that collaborated with the Nazi occupants. Members of the OUN used terror and violence against civilians and the legitimate government in Ukraine after the Great Patriotic War.
In 1943, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the SS Division "Galicia" were formed on the basis of the UUN and under the guidance of the special services of Nazi Germany. At least one million people died at the hands of members of OUN-UPA and Ukrainian SS militants.
The Defender of the Fatherland Day is celebrated on February 23. In Ukraine, its date was changed to October 14, the day of the formation of the UPA.
Under the presidency of Zelensky, the glorification of the OUN-UPA has continued. Moreover, a march in honor of the SS division Galicia took place in Kiev in the spring of 2021. The procession was led by members of the Ukrainian National Battalions that have committed many crimes in Donbas during the civil conflict.
Andrey Biletsky and his National Corps*, the head of S14* Yevhen Karas, and the leader of Svoboda*, Oleh Tyahnybok, also promote Nazi ideas. Their henchmen attack Russian-speaking Ukrainians and people with St. George ribbons and sabotage the procession of the Immortal Regiment.
Xenophobia
In the summer of 2021, the Verkhovna Rada passed The Law on Indigenous Peoples initiated by Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to the law, the above peoples means an autochthonous ethnic community that was developed on the territory of Ukraine, its members are speakers of a distinctive language and bearers of authentic culture, the community has traditional, social, cultural, or representative bodies.
Russians, who make up the majority of the population of the DPR and LPR, were not included in the list of indigenous peoples. Zelensky officially enshrined them as a kind of an afterthought in Ukraine.
"The worst of all is that Russians in Ukraine are compelled not only to repudiate their origin, generations of their ancestors but also to believe that Russia is their enemy. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the policy of forced assimilation, as well as the establishment of the ethnically pure Ukrainian state with an aggressive position towards Russia, can be compared to the deployment of weapons of mass destruction against us in terms of consequences," summarized Vladimir Putin.
Due to the fact that almost one million citizens of the Russian Federation reside in the Donbass, and they were subjected to physical and mental extermination for eight years, the Russian leader was prompted to declare a special operation to protect them.
* These organizations are banned in the Russian Federation
Source: Izvestia
