The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported a resolution on January 15 aimed at enhancing the role of the Ukrainian language in the state establishment and development of the country. A total of 237 members of parliament voted in favor of the document.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Key Provisions of the Resolution
The approved resolution emphasizes the critical importance of protecting the Ukrainian language and fostering a Ukrainian-speaking environment. As stated in the text of the document, the implementation of language policy is viewed as a foundation for national security, state unity, and sustainable development of Ukraine.
“The necessary legislative and managerial decisions must be made in accordance with the interests of Ukrainian statehood and the future of the Ukrainian people, regardless of the opposition from the aggressor state or any other external pressure,” the resolution states.
The resolution includes, in particular, a recommendation for the National Commission on State Language Standards to develop and, with the participation of the Institute of the Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and other scientific and educational institutions, approve a new Ukrainian spelling by February 1, 2026.
Recommendations and Next Steps
The document also suggests that the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, together with the National Academy of Legal Sciences, conduct an analysis of the texts of laws submitted for expertise by March 1 and prepare conclusions regarding the use of terms, term combinations, special words, and phrases to enhance language standards in legislation.
The Cabinet of Ministers is recommended to develop and approve a unified standard for a unique font for the formatting of original texts of the Verkhovna Rada’s normative acts by March 1, as well as to align normative legal documents with the law “On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language.”
Particular attention is given to the implementation of technologies for detecting, analyzing, and blocking audiovisual content in the Ukrainian media space aimed at continuing the policy of Russification of the population or spreading pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian narratives.
The Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, Olena Ivanovska, supported the adoption of the resolution, emphasizing that the document will contribute to the development of Ukrainian-language media content and the creation of a Unified Glossary of Legal Terms. Such a glossary will help cleanse normative legal acts of incorrect language borrowings, Russisms, and bureaucratic language.
According to Ivanovska, this decision reinforces Ukraine’s strategic course for the protection of linguistic sovereignty and the strengthening of the state language’s role in various spheres of public life.
It is worth noting that in 2025 alone, the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language received 3,122 appeals from citizens across various regions. The highest number of violations of the state language legislation was recorded in Kyiv (1,117 cases), as well as in Odesa (445), Kharkiv (374), Dnipropetrovsk (261), Kyiv (105), and Zaporizhzhia (58) regions.