Is it Appropriate to Address Your Ukrainian Users in Russian?
This post is for internet service providers, website, app, store owners etc. who are thinking about whether a Russian version of their product would work for Ukrainian users.
A few weeks back, I overheard a conversation in a pharmacy. A pharmacist hands a customer a pack of tampons. I can see the writing on the box, it’s in Russian (although most products now are localized into Ukrainian, these things still happen due to old stock reasons). The customer fiddles the box for a few seconds, then asks, “Can I get a pack which is not in the language of the occupiers?” And this is not a rare case. I’ll explain why.
Language situation in Ukraine
Most people in Ukraine are bilingual: we understand Russian. Many Ukrainians used it regularly. Since Russia brutally invaded Ukraine in 2022, an overwhelming number of Ukrainians stopped using Russian in everyday life or started using it less (source). I've heard many times from different people that they wish they could forget or “unlearn” it.
A reason for such rejection of the Russian language is simple and natural. It is linked to pain and sorrow inflicted on many of us by our aggressive neighbor.
War traumas and their connection to languages
Many Ukrainians have been traumatized by this war – either directly or indirectly. The homes of more than 3.5 million people were destroyed or damaged. According to recent data, 78% of Ukrainians have relatives or acquaintances who were either injured or killed since the full-scale invasion started (Source). Many people lived through the occupation and witnessed its horrors. Even those who didn’t suffer from the war directly, still are traumatized from the mere realization of the genocide happening in our country. We are also deeply traumatized by the realization that people who identify themselves as Ukrainians are being killed just because of it.
Because the people who cause all this to us speak Russian, this language is associated with our war traumas. And right now, for Ukrainians, Russian is the language of violence, occupation, and death.
Not only can language be part or cause of traumatic events, but trauma can also, as a consequence, severely impact on a person’s linguistic repertoire: on his or her inclination to learn languages, to use, retain, or abandon a particular language, or to take refuge in silence (Source).
“…the French writer Arthur Goldschmidt (2005), who as a child was forced to leave Nazi Germany, describes German as a language that in his linguistic memory is indelibly marked by feelings of extreme distress and adds that even its vocal pitch is likely to evoke the life-threatening fear he had experienced.”
In the same way, the Russian language in public places can be a psychological trigger and bring negative emotions for many Ukrainians. Being addressed in the Russian language online unexpectedly when one didn't specifically ask to be addressed in this language can be really bothersome to many Ukrainians, too.
My personal experiences
When the full-scale invasion started, I was living in Georgia. Russian is the main language for communication between Georgians and Ukrainians. Even so, a Ukrainian using English to talk to a Georgian can be considered strange. Still, while Ukrainian cities were being bombed and while my close ones were preparing to go to war and defend our country, I psychologically could not use Russian and addressed Georgians in English.
I also have a few stories which concern online services and interfaces. A few months ago, I booked an accommodation online on a popular booking platform. Although the language of my profile is Ukrainian and I n e v e r used Russian on this platform, the confirmation email I received was in Russian. Just seeing it in my inbox triggered very negative feelings and left a bad aftertaste of using this website.
Another instance happened after I switched the interface of my electronic book reader into Ukrainian. There’s a bottom bar on the screen which shows how many pages you have left until the end of a current chapter. I’ve noticed a mistake in how the word “page” was shortened. The way it was written was actually in Russian. This was a small mistake from a linguist. It was a matter of two letters (“стр.” instead of “с.”) and maybe unnoticeable to most people, but it was always on display and bothered me very much. I contacted the Customer Support asking them to review this part of their UI.
I could draw many examples like this, but they have the same point — Ukrainians do not wish to be addressed in Russian. This can provoke some horrible feelings for many of us. To any Internet product or service which wants to prevent this, I would recommend deterring from using Russian as a language of address to their Ukrainian users or audience.
