Ukrainians living in Crimea are not having their language rights violated, Anastasia Gridchina, the head of the Ukrainian community in Crimea, told Sputnik.
SIMFEROPOL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th August, 2018) Ukrainians living in Crimea are not having their language rights violated, Anastasia Gridchina, the head of the Ukrainian community in Crimea, told Sputnik.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian education Minister Liliya Hrynevych said that the absence of schools that teach in the Ukrainian language in Crimea was a reflection of "repressions" against the Ukrainian population of the peninsula.
"For many centuries, the language of communication in Crimea was Russian, and the Ukrainian language was forcibly imposed on the Crimean people by such 'experts' as Hrynevych, who do not know and do not try to learn about the history of Crimea and modern realities. The vast majority of Crimean Ukrainians communicate in Russian, but, nevertheless, we remember and sing Ukrainian songs," Gridchina said.
According to Gridchina, Crimean Ukrainians have also not forgotten about the Ukrainian cultural heritage of writers and poets who wrote in the literary Ukrainian language.
"Every Crimean Ukrainian is free to speak Ukrainian. It is worth remembering that this is the official language of the Republic of Crimea. We invite Liliya Hrynevych to visit our republic so that she could see how freely they speak the Ukrainian language in Crimea," Gridchina added.
Crimea, a former Ukrainian territory, rejoined Russia in 2014, when 97 percent of the peninsula's residents voted in favor of the move in a referendum. The reunification was not recognized by Kiev or the majority of Western countries, which responded by introducing sanctions against Russia. Moscow has repeatedly said that the vote was held in compliance with international law and followed democratic procedure.
