Enemy Tongue

[David Morris]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/04/enemy-tongue-eastern-ukrainians-reject-their-russian-birth-language?CMP=share_btn_tw

The Observer <https://www.theguardian.com/publication/theobserver>
Enemy tongue: eastern Ukrainians reject their Russian birth language

In towns near Russia’s border, Moscow’s influence was strong and Ukrainian
was rarely spoken. The war has changed that.  Gamlet Zinkivskyi grew up
speaking Russian in the city of Kharkiv, just like his parents. But when
Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine> on 24 February, it was the
final push for him to switch fully to Ukrainian.

“Unfortunately, I grew up speaking Russian, but it’s not pleasant to speak
the same language as the army that is destroying whole areas of our
country,” said Zinkivskyi, a 35-year-old street artist widely known to
Kharkiv residents, who usually refer to him by his first name.

The switch of language is part of a broader journey towards a more
pronounced Ukrainian identity for Zinkivskyi, something shared by many in
the largely Russian-speaking areas of east and south Ukraine. It is a
process which has become more pronounced in the past three months, but it
has been brewing for some years.

As a young artist, Zinkivskyi had a longstanding dream: an exhibition in
Moscow. Kharkiv
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/05/kharkiv-catalogues-war-toll-on-architectural-gems-historic-buildings-ukraine>
is
just a few dozen miles from the border with Russia and has long been almost
entirely Russian-speaking. Culturally, Moscow felt like the centre of the
universe. But when Zinkivskyi finally made it to a gallery there in 2012,
he was horrified. “They were obnoxious and patronising about Kharkiv and
Ukraine, and frankly I thought: fuck them,” he said. He returned to Kharkiv
and became more focused on the Ukrainian art scene.

After the annexation of Crimea, in 2014
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/18/putin-confirms-annexation-crimea-ukrainian-soldier-casualty>,
Zinkivskyi started trying to speak some Ukrainian with a few friends. Now
he has fully switched, and for the first time is also introducing political
and patriotic themes into his art.