Odesa region is among the leaders in the number of violations of language legislation in 2025

Odesa region was among the leaders in the number of violations of language legislation in 2025. Photo from open sources

In the first nine months of 2025, the Secretariat of the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language received 2227 complaints from citizens about violations of the Law of Ukraine «On the Functioning of Ukrainian as the State Language». This is 27% more than in the same period in 2024 (1633 complaints).

This was reported on the website of the language ombudsman Olena Ivanivska.

Most complaints came from Kyiv — 870 (39% of the total). Next in the ranking are Odesa region with 339 appeals (15%), Kharkiv region — 286 (13%) and Dnipro region — 201 (9%).

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Citizens most often complained about:

• the lack of a Ukrainian version of online shopping sites and other web resources — 574 appeals (26%);
• violation of language norms in outdoor advertising and signage — 443 (20%);
• non-compliance with the language law during service — 397 (18%);
• cases in the field of education — 145 (7%);
• violations in the field of culture — 112 (5%);
• non-compliance with language requirements in medical institutions — 93 (4%).

The Ombudsman also received complaints about the language of information about goods and services (115 complaints), media (82), transport (53), book publishing (35) and sports (25).

According to Olena Ivanovska, the increase in the number of complaints shows that Ukrainians are becoming more attentive to their right to receive information and services in the state language.

«I would like to emphasise that education is our strategic direction. It is here that the language culture of young people is formed. It is the foundation of our national consciousness», she said.

Earlier, Odesa region was also among the leaders in terms of the number of violations of language legislation since the beginning of 2025.