Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many Russian-speaking Ukrainians deliberately decided to refrain from using Russian in daily life and speak only Ukrainian.
Over time, this initial emotional impulse seems to have subsided, and some Russian-speaking Ukrainians have returned to their old ways. A large proportion of young people in schools, and sometimes even teachers, continue to speak Russian to each other.
Nevertheless, according to a study conducted by the State Service of Education Quality of Ukraine (SSEQ) and the Commissioner for the Protection of the Ukrainian Language in April and May 2025, the use of Ukrainian in schools is increasing. About 48% of students surveyed in Ukraine, a bilingual country, said they communicate with each other exclusively in Ukrainian, an increase of 7 percentage points from the previous school year.
But this conclusion does not apply equally to all areas. In Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, there is a negative trend: the proportion of students using only the Ukrainian language has fallen by 10 points, to 17%.
Oksana, who did not want to give her real name, is a teacher at a school in Kiev. “The children speak Ukrainian in class, but when the bell rings, they start speaking Russian among themselves,” he told DW.
“We also have a boy who wants to speak Russian in class. His family is Russian-speaking, and he has difficulty understanding Ukrainian.”
Iryna, a student from another school in Kiev, had a similar story to tell. “Most of the girls in our class speak Ukrainian, but almost all the boys speak Russian,” she said.
She spoke Ukrainian both at home and at school. She said that sometimes, however, she spoke Surzhik, a language that combines Russian and Ukrainian and is widespread in some areas.
Many internally displaced people speak Russian
Olena Ivanovska, Ukraine’s state commissioner for language protection, attributed the decline in the use of Ukrainian among Kyiv students to the fact that the number of internally displaced people is higher in Ukraine’s eastern regions, where the number of Russian speakers is traditionally highest.
Oksana agreed with this notion, citing a student from such a family who she said “speaks Ukrainian with me, and when her father comes to pick her up, she immediately starts speaking Russian.”
Oleksiy Antipovich, sociologist and head of the Ukrainian research institute Rating Group, was not surprised by the fact that so many people in the Ukrainian capital appear to speak Russian.
“In Kyiv, about 50% speak Ukrainian, less than 20% speak Russian, and 30% speak both languages. In fact, twice as many Ukrainians in Kyiv as the average say they speak Russian,” he told DW, citing a study conducted by his institute.
“At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, there was a massive mobilization of internal forces over our national symbols,” he said. Since 2024, “Russian is again present on the streets, especially in Kiev, and there is no objection to speaking it anymore.”
However, he pointed out that the proportion of people speaking Ukrainian in daily life has remained stable.
‘Patriotism alone is not enough’
Ivanovska believes that a lot of work still needs to be done to create a Ukrainian-speaking environment outside the classroom.
“Patriotism alone is not enough. What is needed is the will of the state and a coherent policy regarding the language spoken by teachers and school administrators.”
That’s why she thinks it’s essential that “Parliament passes bills to ensure a Ukrainian-language environment in educational institutions.”
Registered in October 2024, the bill defines the term “Ukrainian-language learning environment”. It stipulates that the educational process includes not only lessons but also breaks, communication on school grounds and other educational activities. If passed, officials would be forced to develop a system to assess children’s language skills. However, it does not foresee measures that would penalize students or parents who communicate in Russian.
“We also need to make it clear to parents who speak Russian with their children at home that they will be at a significant disadvantage when they start school compared to those whose mother tongue is Ukrainian,” Ivanovska said.
Ivanovska said laws alone are not enough and that high-quality Ukrainian-language content is also necessary.
The need for Ukrainian language pop culture
Valentina, the mother of a seventh-grade student at another school in Kiev, believed there was another reason so many students spoke Russian.
“In my opinion, this is due to the dominance of Russian-language content on YouTube and social media. They also play online games where they communicate in Russian,” he told DW.
Famous Ukrainian blogger Andrey Shymanovsky also said that Russian-language pop culture had a widespread influence on children.
“We don’t have any Ukrainian child bloggers who are creating good content about experiments, pranks and challenges,” he told DW.
He said the reason children shared Russian content was because they found it more exciting. “If there’s nothing fun in Ukrainian, we’re at a loss. What’s more, kids today play popular shooter games, most of which are not in Ukrainian. That’s why we need a variety of content in their own language, not just educational content.”
This article was originally published in Ukrainian.