The oldest is 73 years old: the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk told how many citizens want to become language inspectors

According to the mayor, recently you can hear Russian more often on the streets of Frankivsk

Ruslan Marcinkiv/Facebook

Already 90 residents of Ivano-Frankivsk have expressed their desire to join the public language initiative. The oldest of them is 73 years old.

That’s what he’s about told in an interview with “Ukrinform”.

Former mayor announcedthat the city will introduce the work of volunteers who will monitor compliance with language legislation in the city on a public basis.

Ruslan Martsinkiv said that the oldest citizen who filled out the questionnaire to participate in the program is 73 years old, the youngest is 20.

Among them are representatives of the “Prosvita” society and the “Union of Ukrainian Women” organization.

“The enemy clearly says: where the Russian language is, there is the “Russian people”. What is the difference between a Russian-speaking Ukrainian who reads Pushkin and Lermontov, and the same Russian who reads the same in Moscow or Penza? Nothing. That’s why Putin calls them “lost Russians” “Language is one of the questions that must be asked for the preservation of the state.”– added the head of Ivano-Frankivsk.

Ruslan Marcinkiv admitted that he used to be a supporter of the so-called “gentle Ukrainization”, but now he believes that measures aimed at spreading the state language should “go to a more serious level”.

“Now the Russians are condemning Ukrainians for using their native language in the temporarily occupied territories. They are not playing around to bring us the “Russian measure”. So why don’t we deal with the language issue in such a way as to establish the “Ukrainian world”?” – the head of Ivano-Frankivsk asks a rhetorical question.

According to him, from 2022 to 2023, many Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the city switched to the state school – now this process has stopped. Moreover, on the streets of Ivano-Frankivsk you can hear Russian more and more often, says Ruslan Martsinkiv.

“It’s time to promote Ukrainian language courses, the legislation that protects it, and implement other measures. The time has come when everyone in our city should become a language volunteer. Regardless of whether he filled out a questionnaire for this or not.

This will depend on what Ivano-Frankivsk will be like tomorrow: Ukrainian-speaking or will turn into a city without Ukrainian values. Tomorrow it will be too late to do it”he believes.

We would like to remind you that public inspectors of the Ukrainian language support program in Ivano-Frankivsk will not have powers punish for non-compliance with the language law. Instead, their task will be the popularization of Ukrainian and public control.