Context: Volodymyr Zelenskyy has imposed sanctions on Aleksandr Lukashenko. We explained why this has happened only now in this article. This decision was published on the President of Ukraine’s website on 18 February 2026. The stated reason was “facilitating the murder of Ukrainians”. A total of 17 restrictions are now in place against the Belarusian politician in Ukraine, including asset freezes, entry bans, and bans on financial transactions. Some sanctions have been imposed indefinitely, while others will last for 10 years.
On 18 February 2026, presenter Alena Rodovskaya and studio guest Andrei Mukavozchyk discussed the challenges different countries face in overcoming the dominance of the Russian language on the Vecherni politicheski kanal show on Radio Minsk. Mukavozchyk said that most Ukrainians continue to speak Russian.
“I will give you the example of Ukraine. They’re still speaking, you know...”
“Russian,” the presenter finished his statement.
“Right. These language ombudsmen are smashing their heads against the walls of the Verkhovna Rada and the rostrum, but they cannot achieve anything. According to all public surveys, Ukrainians prefer to use Russian in everyday life,” concluded Mukavozchyk.
According to research by the SOCIS centre, in February 2025, around 10% of Ukrainians spoke Russian at home, around 30% spoke both Russian and Ukrainian, and almost 58% spoke only Ukrainian. A poll by the Rating sociological group showed similar results. In July 2025, nearly two-thirds of respondents said that Ukrainian was the only language they spoke at home. The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology’s survey yielded similar results.