Moscow, May 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kyiv expects the Russian authorities to pay more attention to developing the Ukrainian language in Russia, Ukraine's ambassador to Russia has said.
"There are still problems that have not been resolved yet. The current problem is the absence of Ukrainian schools and kindergartens in Moscow, where over a quarter of million Ukrainians live, as well as in other regions of Russia, where Ukrainians live in compact communities," Ukrainian ambassador to Russia Volodymyr Yelchenko said in an interview with Interfax.
"The majority of Ukrainian children, who would like to know the native language, study Ukrainian in hobby groups and Sunday schools that operate at the initiative of the Ukrainian public unions. Of course, that’s not enough. I believe that such a situation requires much more attention and involvement from the Russian authorities," he added.
With regard to the current state of affairs with the Ukrainian language and culture in Russia, the ambassador said that such establishments as the Cultural Center of Ukraine in Moscow, the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Surgut, and the Laboratory of the Ukrainian Culture in Lazarevsky district in Sochi operate to provide for the cultural needs of the Ukrainian diaspora in Russia
"The issue of opening new cultural and information centers in areas where Ukrainians live in compact communities is currently being considered," Yelchenko said.
He also added that the problems concerning the Library of the Ukrainian Literature in Moscow, where Russian law enforcers said there were extremist materials, had been resolved.
