On March 6 in the DPR and June 3 in the LPR, authorities officially revoked the status of Ukrainian as a state language. Until then, Ukrainian had shared official status with Russian in both republics.
RIA Novosti reported that the DPR parliament established Russian as the sole official language, noting that education in the unrecognized republic would now be conducted exclusively in Russian: “Until now, both Russian and Ukrainian were official languages in the DPR. However, as noted by the parliament, ‘the use of Ukrainian as a state language had not been implemented in practice.’”
The outlet also covered amendments to the LPR Constitution that designate Russian as the only state language: “Thus, the People’s Council committee supported the initiative of Head of the Republic Leonid Pasechnik and adopted the proposed bill on Russian as the sole state language.”
TASS published a brief piece on the DPR decision, quoting head of the republic Denis Pushilin: “For the majority of DPR residents, Russian is their native language.” The outlet also gave a more detailed report on the LPR’s corresponding move: “A representative of the LPR head in parliament emphasized that ‘establishing Russian as the sole state language does not negate or diminish the right to use other languages.’”
Vesti.ru reported only on the DPR decision, highlighting: “In Donetsk, it remains possible to receive preschool, primary, and basic general education in one’s native language at the request of students’ parents.”
RT Russian emphasized in its coverage of the DPR decision: “Removing Ukrainian from the list of official languages does not diminish its value or infringe on the rights of the republic’s citizens.” It also briefly noted the similar decision in the LPR.
Interfax published brief updates on both DPR and LPR parliamentary decisions.
Donetsk News Agency (DAN) reported extensively on the DPR decision, including multiple follow-ups and reactions:
The outlet also published a report on the LPR’s similar decision: “The People’s Council of the LPR followed the DPR in establishing Russian as the sole official language.”
Lugansk Information Center focused on its own region and did not report on the DPR decision. It published a series of updates:
Major Western outlets ignored the news:
British papers The Guardian and The Telegraph did not cover the story.
The New York Times also did not publish any reporting on the matter.
Likewise, Le Figaro, major Italian and Spanish media, and Eastern European outlets did not report on these developments.
Leading Ukrainian news platforms also did not report on the events.
Only a brief mention was found in Slovo i Dilo: “The self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ will no longer consider Ukrainian a ‘state’ language on the territory it controls.”
Author · Apr 10, 2025
