Russian is the European Union’s seventh most widely spoken language and the lingua franca of former Soviet countries in the EU’s eastern neighborhood. It is a fact Europeans chose to ignore until last year, when Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea and helped ignite the conflict in eastern Ukraine, saying he was defending the rights of local Russian-speakers.
Bloomberg: The Putin channel – Kremlin TV beats EU to Europe’s Russian-speakers
An employee stands by TV sets in a shop in Moscow on April 16, 2015 during the broadcast of Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual televised phone-in with the nation.
