07.04.2025, 08:39

The conversation includes relevant answers about the current state of the Ukrainian language in the occupied Crimea

Valentyna Potapova, Head of National Advocacy for Educational Programs at the Almenda Center for Civic Education, and Andriy Shchekun, a columnist for the Voice of Crimea news agency, talk about education and the state of the state language in the occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol

"I can tell you that the state of the Ukrainian language in Crimea... if it is possible to define it, it is zero. The Ukrainian language in Crimea, in fact, does not exist. And the occupying country can write a lot in its reports about the equal development of the three languages in Crimea, and that the Ukrainian language is developing somewhere... They can report on the classes that they have; they can report on that one school, the twentieth, near the city of Feodosia. In fact, there is no Ukrainian language in Crimea," said Potapova.

The conversation focused on what other possible international solutions could be appropriate to introduce to preserve the Ukrainian language in the occupied territories, and as an example in the ongoing negotiations between the United States and Russia.

Recall that the International Court of Justice in 2024 recognized that the Russian Federation violated ICERD by systematically depriving Ukrainians in Crimea of the right to education in their native language. This is stated in the analytical material of Andriy Ivants "Linguocide of the Ukrainian language in the occupied Crimea: a crime against identity."

More details about this in the substantiated answers fixes Valentina Potapova.

"I would like to add a seventh point to the six violations that exist. First of all, this is the recognition of political indoctrination, when responsibility for the consequences of the occupied regime must come. We also need to immediately demand from Russia, which cannot ensure the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the preservation of cultural identity, that we need guarantees of safe education under Ukrainian law for those6 who are in the TOT," Valentyna Potapova said in the conversation.

For more up-to-date information on how you can fight for Ukrainian children and the Ukrainian language in the occupied territories, watch the Voice of Crimea program on the air: "The Voice of Ukrainian Language and Education in Crimea: Silent Suffering."