Maria Zakharova
The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova called a “panopticon” the proposal of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov to organize broadcasting of Russian-language Ukrainian TV channels around the world. She told about this in an interview with the Zvezda TV channel, RIA Novosti reports.
Zakharova noted that the person who heads the Ministry of Internal Affairs is talking about starting foreign broadcasting to foreign audiences. She wondered why someone who is engaged in internal affairs and considers the Russian language a part of Ukrainian culture advocates the closure of Russian-language channels on the territory of Ukraine itself. The Russian diplomat added that Ukrainian citizens work on such channels, they also watch them.
The representative of the Russian department said that Kiev is very cynical about language issues. So, on the one hand, the authorities prevent the establishment of a parity attitude towards languages in Ukraine, and on the other hand, they advocate the organization of broadcasting in Russian abroad.
Earlier, Avakov said that the Russian language largely belongs to Ukraine, and suggested organizing the broadcasting of Russian-language Ukrainian TV channels around the world. Thus, Avakov answered the question of journalist Dmitry Gordon about whether Kiev can initiate the closure of the broadcasting of TV channels in Russian in other countries. According to the head of the department, foreign TV viewers would be happy to watch Russian-language Ukrainian channels.
On July 16, 2019, the law “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language”, developed by the government of the fifth president of the country, Petro Poroshenko, entered into force in Ukraine. According to the document, the Ukrainian language has become mandatory for state and local authorities, educational institutions, hospitals and the service sector.
