Russian language is no longer protected in Ukraine under European Charter: Zelenskyy has signed law

On 12 June, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law that removes the Russian language from the protection afforded by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Ukraine.

This was announced by Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, according to Censor.NET.

Details

Thus, the Russian language has been removed from the list of languages to which Ukraine applies the provisions of the Charter.

"The President of Ukraine has signed Law No. 4699-IX — an important decision for the protection of the Ukrainian linguistic space and the fulfilment of our European obligations... This is a fair and logical decision. Ukraine is protecting its state language, respecting linguistic and cultural diversity, and stripping Russian imperial influence of the privileges it has abused for years. This decision is about dignity, justice and Ukraine’s linguistic security," he stated.

The Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada emphasised that the language of the aggressor state cannot benefit from the protective measures created to support the languages of indigenous peoples and national communities.

More context

As a reminder, in 2025 the Verkhovna Rada excluded the Russian language from the text of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

The explanatory note to draft law No. 14 120 stated that, due to its dominance over several centuries, Russian remains the most widely used language of national minorities in Ukraine today, and there are no grounds to consider it endangered.

Thus, according to the updated official translation, the correct title of the Charter is the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. It is also established that in Ukraine, the provisions of the Charter will apply to the following languages: