Following the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, many Ukrainians began speaking only Ukrainian in their daily lives. Over time, this seems to have changed, and some Russian-speaking Ukrainians have returned to their native language, including in schools.

What linguistic trends are emerging?

According to a study by the State Service for Educational Quality, conducted between April and May 2025 in collaboration with the Commissioner for the Protection of Ukrainian as an Official Language, Olena Ivanovska, the use of Ukrainian in schools continues to increase overall: 48 percent of the students surveyed in bilingual Ukraine communicate exclusively in Ukrainian. This represents a seven percentage point increase compared to the previous school year.

But this is not the case, for example, in Kyiv, where in the schools of the Ukrainian capital, the use of Ukrainian has fallen by 10 percent compared to 2024, with only 17 percent of schoolchildren speaking it.

Ukrainian in class, Russian at recess

Oksana, a teacher in Kyiv who prefers not to reveal her real name, says that “in class, the children speak Ukrainian, but when the recess bell rings, they start speaking Russian among themselves.”

The decline in the use of Ukrainian among schoolchildren in Kyiv could be due to the high number of immigrants from the eastern regions of the country, where the proportion of Russian-language schools was higher, says Olena Ivanovska. Professor Oksana shares this observation: “For example, a girl speaks Ukrainian to me, and when her father picks her up, she immediately switches to Russian.”

Valentina, the mother of a seventh-grade student at another school in Kyiv, believes there is another reason why so many students speak Russian: “In my opinion, it’s due to the predominance of Russian-language content on YouTube and social media. They also play online video games where they communicate in Russian.”

Oleksi Antipovich, director of the Rating polling institute, is not surprised that so much Russian is spoken in the Ukrainian capital: “In Kyiv,Around 50 percent speak Ukrainian; just under 20 percent speak Russian, and 30 percent speak both languages.”

“With the start of the large-scale invasion, there was a massive mobilization of internal forces around our national symbols. Since 2024, Russian, especially in Kyiv, has once again become present on the streets, and speaking it is no longer frowned upon,” she stated. And the proportion of people who speak Ukrainian in everyday life remains stable, she believes.

A legally mandated environment for learning the Ukrainian language?

Olena Ivanovska believes that “patriotism alone is not enough. More political will is needed from the state, along with a coherent policy regarding the language used by teachers and school administrators.” She emphasizes the importance of Parliament passing the bill to guarantee a Ukrainian language learning environment in educational institutions. The bill, submitted to Parliament in October 2024, defines the term “Ukrainian language learning environment.” The educational process encompasses classroom instruction, communication throughout the school grounds, and other educational activities. If passed, the law would require authorities to develop a system for assessing children’s language proficiency. However, it does not include measures against students or parents who communicate in Russian. In addition to legal instruments, high-quality Ukrainian content is also necessary, Ivanovska states. Well-known Ukrainian blogger Andriy Shimanovski also highlights the significant importance and influence of pop culture on children. “We don’t have any children’s bloggers,” he says. “We need a Ukrainian blogger who creates interesting content about experiments, pranks, and challenges,” he told DW. He added, “If there’s nothing fun (for kids) in Ukrainian, we’re at a disadvantage. Besides, kids these days are entertained by popular shooting games, most of which aren’t in Ukrainian. That’s why we need a wide variety of content in our language, and not just academic content,” the blogger concluded.More political will is needed from the state, along with a coherent policy regarding the language used by teachers and school administrators.” She emphasizes the importance of Parliament passing the bill to guarantee a Ukrainian language learning environment in educational institutions. The bill, submitted to Parliament in October 2024, defines the term “Ukrainian language learning environment.” The educational process encompasses classroom instruction, communication throughout the school grounds, and other educational activities. If passed, the law would require authorities to develop a system for assessing children’s language proficiency. However, it does not include measures against students or parents who communicate in Russian. In addition to legal instruments, high-quality Ukrainian content is also necessary, Ivanovska states. Well-known Ukrainian blogger Andriy Shimanovski also highlights the significant importance and influence of pop culture on children. “We don’t have any children’s bloggers,” he says. “We need a Ukrainian blogger who creates interesting content about experiments, pranks, and challenges,” he told DW. He added, “If there’s nothing fun (for kids) in Ukrainian, we’re at a disadvantage. Besides, kids these days are entertained by popular shooting games, most of which aren’t in Ukrainian. That’s why we need a wide variety of content in our language, and not just academic content,” the blogger concluded.More political will is needed from the state, along with a coherent policy regarding the language used by teachers and school administrators.” She emphasizes the importance of Parliament passing the bill to guarantee a Ukrainian language learning environment in educational institutions. The bill, submitted to Parliament in October 2024, defines the term “Ukrainian language learning environment.” The educational process encompasses classroom instruction, communication throughout the school grounds, and other educational activities. If passed, the law would require authorities to develop a system for assessing children’s language proficiency. However, it does not include measures against students or parents who communicate in Russian. In addition to legal instruments, high-quality Ukrainian content is also necessary, Ivanovska states. Well-known Ukrainian blogger Andriy Shimanovski also highlights the significant importance and influence of pop culture on children. “We don’t have any children’s bloggers,” he says. “We need a Ukrainian blogger who creates interesting content about experiments, pranks, and challenges,” he told DW. He added, “If there’s nothing fun (for kids) in Ukrainian, we’re at a disadvantage. Besides, kids these days are entertained by popular shooting games, most of which aren’t in Ukrainian. That’s why we need a wide variety of content in our language, and not just academic content,” the blogger concluded.which are mostly not in Ukrainian. That's why we need a wide variety of content in our language, and not just academic content,” the blogger concluded.which are mostly not in Ukrainian. That's why we need a wide variety of content in our language, and not just academic content,” the blogger concluded.