Although Ukraine has promoted Ukrainianization after Russia's invasion of the country, students on school playgrounds in Kyiv often speak Russian. Why is that? DW interviewed students, parents, teachers and experts.

In the city of Bobryk in Sumy region of Ukraine, students attend classes in the basement of a municipal building (photo taken on September 1, 2025). Image source: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo/picture alliance

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many Ukrainian speakers of Russian decided not to speak Russian in daily life, but only Ukrainian.

Over time, this initial impulse seems to have weakened, and some Ukrainian speakers of Russian have resumed their previous habits. A considerable number of students, even some teachers, still communicate with each other in Russian.

However, according to a study conducted by the State Service for Quality Assurance of Education in Ukraine (SSEQU) and the Ukrainian Language Protection Commissioner in April and May 2025, the use of Ukrainian in schools continues to rise. About 48% of the surveyed students said they communicate exclusively in Ukrainian with each other, an increase of 7 percentage points compared to the previous school year.

But this is not the case in all regions. In the capital Kyiv, the opposite trend occurred: the proportion of students who only used Ukrainian dropped by 10 percentage points, to 17%.

Oksana (a pseudonym) is a teacher at a school in Kyiv. She told DW, "The children speak Ukrainian in class, but as soon as the bell rings, they start speaking Russian," she said. "There was a boy who wanted to speak Russian in class. His family speaks Russian, and he doesn't understand Ukrainian."

Iryna, a student at another school in Kyiv, had a similar experience. "Most of the girls in our class speak Ukrainian, but almost all the boys speak Russian," she said.

She herself speaks Ukrainian at home and at school, and occasionally she also speaks Surzhyk, a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian, which is widely used in certain regions.

Many Displaced People in Ukraine Speak Russian

Olena Ivanovska, the Ukrainian Language Protection Commissioner, attributes the decline in Ukrainian usage among students in Kyiv to the large number of displaced people from eastern Ukraine, where Russian has traditionally been the most widely spoken language.

Oksana agrees with this view and mentions a student from such a family, "She spoke Ukrainian to me, but when her father came to pick her up, she immediately switched to Russian."

About 50% of people in Kyiv speak Ukrainian, slightly less than 20% speak Russian, and 30% speak both languages. Image source: Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images/ZUMA/dpa/picture alliance

Sociologist Oleksiy Antypovych, head of the Ukrainian research institute "Rating Group," is not surprised by the large number of people in Kyiv who speak Russian.

He told DW, "In Kyiv, about 50% of people speak Ukrainian, slightly less than 20% speak Russian, and 30% speak both languages. In fact, the number of Russian speakers in Kyiv is twice the national average in Ukraine," he cited a study by "Rating Group."

"At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, there was a large internal mobilization within Ukraine to protect national symbols," he explained. Since 2024, "Russian has reappeared on the streets. Especially in Kyiv, speaking Russian is no longer seen as something frowned upon."

But he pointed out that the proportion of people using Ukrainian in daily life has remained stable.

"Patriotism Is Not Enough"

Ivanovska believes there is still a lot of work to be done to create an environment for Ukrainian outside of classrooms.

"Patriotism alone is not enough. It requires the will of the state, as well as a coherent policy regarding which language teachers and school administrators should use."

Therefore, she considers it crucial that "the parliament passes a law ensuring an environment for learning Ukrainian in educational institutions."

The law, registered in October 2024, defines the term "Ukrainian language learning environment." It states that the educational process includes not only classroom teaching, but also breaks, communication within the campus, and other educational activities. If the law is passed, authorities will be obligated to establish a system for assessing children's language abilities. However, the law does not provide any penalties for students or parents who use Russian.

Ivanovska said, "We also need to make parents who speak Russian at home understand that these children will be at a clear disadvantage compared to those whose native language is Ukrainian."

Ivanovska said that just laws are not enough; high-quality Ukrainian teaching content is also essential.

Ukrainian Popular Culture Needs Development

Valentina, a mother of a seventh-grade student in Kyiv, believes there is another reason why so many students speak Russian.

"I think it's because Russian content dominates YouTube and social media. The online games they play are also in Russian," she told DW.

Well-known Ukrainian blogger Andriy Shymanovski also said that Russian pop culture has a significant impact on children.

"We don't have Ukrainian child bloggers creating great content about experiments, pranks, and challenges," he told DW.

He said the reason children share Russian content is because they find it more interesting. "If there's nothing funny in Ukrainian, we're at a disadvantage. Moreover, nowadays, children like to play shooting games, most of which are not in Ukrainian. That's why we need various kinds of Ukrainian content, not just academic content."

Source: DW

Original: toutiao.com/article/7581072362800546323/

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