Since January 16, the Ukrainian language in the country has become mandatory for the service sector. Now all service providers, regardless of their form of ownership, are obliged to serve and provide information about goods and services to consumers exclusively in the state language.
According to TASS, on Tuesday the head of the committee, Konstantin Kosachev, said that the Federation Council at a plenary session on January 20 will consider a draft statement by the chamber in connection with restrictions on the use of the Russian language in Ukraine, prepared by the committee on international affairs.
“We cannot go against this odious situation, therefore, at the plenary session on January 20, a statement of the Federation Council prepared by the Committee on International Affairs will be considered and, I hope, will be adopted, where we will again attract the attention of all international instances – both through the UN, OSCE, The Council of Europe – towards this completely intolerable situation. And we will invite all these instances to respond in accordance with their mandate and in accordance with those high standards of protection of the linguistic rights of all citizens of any country”, – Kosachev said on the air of the Vmeste-RF TV channel.
“We hope our call will be heard”.
He recalled that on January 16, amendments to the so-called “movny” law entered into force in Ukraine, which restrict the use of the Russian language in everyday life – in shops, at the post office, in the healthcare system, etc.
“Of course, this directly violates the interests of both Russians and Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine. And this is a huge part of the population”, – said Kosachev.