Timothy Snyder on Russian Language, Zelenskyy, and Vakarchuk

American historian specializing in Eastern Europe argues that Ukraine should embrace and regulate Russian language and actually use it as a weapon against the Russian propaganda.
Read the full script of the interview here: en.hromadske.ua/posts/ukraini...
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[@pavelkolomiyets4487]

Watched this for 25 minutes before I realized this video is 3 years old. Everything still applied today but even more so.

[@stevej5185]

Can somebody tell the cameraman to get his shit together? Anyway, it's nice to see Snyder being interviewed outside of a formal setting.

[@francoisprenot-guinard5997]

This shirt has become famous now.

[@danielgaladza]

A Ukrainian form of Russian...like using old orthography? Fascinating idea. That would be the ultimate step in decommunization/desovietization and confuse the heck out of those with nostalgia for Tsarist Russia.

[@danielgaladza]

I know he doesn’t...but he should. It would overturn the status quo in such a way as to create new meaning for old orthography on the political front.

[@danielgaladza]

Slava Pashchenko Visually, old orthography is immediately distinguishable from modern Russian, even without a creating a new dictionary. The yat (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yat) is the best example. Just like Ukrainian from modern Russian, due to і, є, and ґ. Creating a new dictionary would be a disaster, especially considering the chaos created by attempting to establish the new guidelines for Ukrainian.

[@adrianintheweb]

@@danielgaladza Agree 100%. I'll copy-paste my other comment from here. I think that Ukraine could decommunize the Russian language and partially revert to the pre-Soviet spelling with i, ѣ, ѳ and ѵ letters, preferably with some clear distinctions from the historical variant - e.g., no "ъ" at the word endings, maybe with simplified "ѣ" (yat') usage to align the Modern Russian "е" with Modern Ukrainian "і", maybe with "i" always instead of "и" and so on. And it would make immediately obvious whether a Russian speaker is from Ukraine or not. Also, such a reform for the Russian language would be easier for Ukrainians to adopt. As an example, let's take spelling Russian words with ѣ. The Ukrainian-Russian speakers can always re-check their spelling, by comparison, e.g.: блѣдный (RU OLD) - бледный (RU MODERN) - блідий (UKR), бѣс - бес - біс, лѣс - лес - ліс, and so on. It's a pity that there are no governmental initiatives on this because it would make our Russian version even a superior and more prestigious one over the variant used in the Russian Federation. Also, ѳ letter feels natural in the light of the recent Ukrainian reforms: каѳедра (RU OLD) - кафедра (UKR 1933) - катедра (UKR 2019), etc. We have a great opportunity under our feet, and we are not noticing it. 🤷‍♂️

[@danielgaladza]

@@adrianintheweb Agree 100%!

[@JimHanemaayer]

Love this idea! In Zaporozhye region both languages are common. In Kyiv we are starting to hear more Ukrainian.

[@lidiawolanskyj5560]

What a remarkable man. He pays more attention to Ukraine than many people who should be...including too many Ukrainians.

[@adrianintheweb]

I think that Ukraine could decommunize the Russian language and partially revert to the pre-Soviet spelling with i, ѣ, ѳ and ѵ letters, preferably with some clear distinctions from the historical variant (to cause pain in Czarists, Monarchists, and other radical Russian people) - e.g., no "ъ" at the word endings, maybe with simplified "ѣ" (yat') usage to align the Modern Russian "е" with Modern Ukrainian "і". And it would make immediately obvious whether a Russian speaker is from Ukraine or not. Also, such a reform for the Russian language would be easier for Ukrainians to adopt. As an example, let's take spelling Russian words with ѣ. The Ukrainian-Russian speakers can always re-check their spelling, by comparison, e.g.: блѣдный (RU OLD) - бледный (RU MODERN) - блідий (UKR), бѣс - бес - біс, лѣс - лес - ліс, and so on. It's a pity that there are no governmental initiatives on this because it would make our Russian version even a superior and more prestigious one over the variant used in the Russian Federation. Also, ѳ letter feels natural in the light of the recent Ukrainian reforms: каѳедра (RU OLD) - кафедра (UKR 1933) - катедра (UKR 2019), etc. We have a great opportunity under our feet, and we are not noticing it. 🤷‍♂️

[@conniepr]

I agree 100%. Putin uses the Russian language as a weapon. First, he changes their language, then, their culture and whole personality to absorb Russian into their villages. I am not saying there is something wrong with someone who speaks Russian in Ukraine but if someone feels that strongly about it they should move to Russia. If I go to Mexico I expect to speak Mexican and learn it or in France, French. Ukraine has lived under this Russian rule for so long it hasn't completely evolved yet.

[@eugeniawhales7582]

An interesting idea of UKR Russian, but I hardly imagine how this language can be standardized and what appreciated for. Moreover, in my opinion that’s not clever to mess up with Russian when we still have unsolved problems with Ukrainian, which historically was often banned and as a result there is a huge work ahead to clean it from unnatural influences. Creating a battle on language field seems to me a very very bad idea.

[@adrianintheweb]

If you don't mind, Eugenia, I'll copy-paste my comment and share some of my insights. I think that Ukraine could decommunize the Russian language and partially revert to the pre-Soviet spelling with i, ѣ, ѳ and ѵ letters, preferably with some clear distinctions from the historical variant - e.g., no "ъ" at the word endings, maybe with simplified "ѣ" (yat') usage to align the Modern Russian "е" with Modern Ukrainian "і". And it would make immediately obvious whether a Russian speaker is from Ukraine or not. Also, such a reform for the Russian language would be easier for Ukrainians to adopt. As an example, let's take spelling Russian words with ѣ. The Ukrainian-Russian speakers can always re-check their spelling, by comparison, e.g.: блѣдный (RU OLD) - бледный (RU MODERN) - блідий (UKR), бѣс - бес - біс, лѣс - лес - ліс, and so on. It's a pity that there are no governmental initiatives on this because it would make our Russian version even a superior and more prestigious one over the variant used in the Russian Federation. Also, ѳ letter feels natural in the light of the recent Ukrainian reforms: каѳедра (RU OLD) - кафедра (UKR 1933) - катедра (UKR 2019), etc. We have a great opportunity under our feet, and we are not noticing it. 🤷‍♂️

[@Ded_Silu]

Какой русско-украинский словарь лучше для иностранцев? Или есть какой-то англо-украинский словарь, который ещё лучше? Кстати, привет из пакистанца, но я долго жили на западе (иногда в Англии, иногда в США), а сейчас в Хорватии.

[@coreycox2345]

Language evolves naturally, so it wouldn't work. Think of Dante and "official"n Italian. It is worth thinking about how this happens in relation to cultural genocide. Where cultures have attempted to eradicate one another, are there patterns that emerge in subsequent generations?

[@TheMahayanist]

Language politics is a strange phenomenon, a complicated one but an interesting one also.

[@GeorgiosMichalopoulos]

It is an interesting idea and I love the gist of it, namely allowing Ukrainians to speak Russian following their own rules. As a language teacher/learner though, I have to say that what T. Snyder says about grammar is not fully accurate, namely not the whole world works according to the American/British English model(eg Spanish, French, Greek, Italian to name the languages I know) - and there are good historical reasons the Russian language too isn't following this particular model he's proposing. Not that ofc this can't be changed in the future, but he makes it sound like something absolutely obvious and that not doing it this way until now must be sthg of a surprising shock - this isn't exactly the case if you look at more languages around the world - most ppl think that "proper" French is what ppl speak in Paris not in Montreal and "proper" Greek is Athens and not Limassol (not accepting this view personally, but it's hard to argue that this isn't exactly the popular layman view). Fascinating ideas by Snyder at any rate!!

[@bogdanbaudis4099]

Things are more messy than that. Disclaimer: I am not a professional language specialist or teacher etc. but I am multilingual fluent in 2 languages and managing another 2 to various levels. English and French are on the opposite sites of the spectrum. English approach is the acceptance of the actually language usage: that was and still is the approach of the Oxford English Dictionary (and to more local extend: Webster's too), the term "Received Pronunciation" speaks volumes about the nature of this approach. French on the other hand attempt a formal control of the language via state-sanctioned activities of Académie Française. The effects are ... various. I always have good laugh when they try to stamp out an "anglicism" which turns out to be a word imported to English via ... French. My native language (Polish) regulations follow French model and with the seeming success: the language is considerable uniform, specially if you consider Kashubian, Silesian and Tatra-mountain-speech not Polish dialect, but as separate languages (which they are IMHO). However IMHO this success is a result of historical accident: the aftermath of WWII where millions of people were moved from what was Poland's East to what have become the Poland West, mixing all kind of dialects together and effectively obliterating most of them. Polish used to be spoken as 2nd language by many people, I bet the situation now would be much more messy that it is was not for WWII outcomes. The Greek you mentioned is also a quite curious story and by no means Athenian dialect is taught to be considered as normative. In fact what was considered normative was Katarevusa which was an attempt to standardize the language after Greece gained independence from Ottomans. Katarevusa in fact was what we call now "an invented language" trying "return" to some previous version of Greek; more or less what it is called Koine with some elements of the Classic Greek + the inevitability to deal with adaptations to modern usages. The result was a language spoken in the parliament, in the royal court and written in the law documents. In the everyday life Greeks spoke what they called Demotiki, "language of the people" why the children suffered Katarevusa in schools. Eventually Katarevusa was abandoned however the children tortures had some effects and the consensus is that what now is being spoken is called Modern Greek, an amalgam of Demotiki with Katarevusa. As for true Athenian accent the best source would be prewar movies, same for Warsaw accent 🙂Too many people came from the other country parts into both capitals ...

[@Edo9River]

This is a wonderful insightful exploration of Prof. Snyder’s ideas😊 there are some comments which need further meditation. Indeed some of his comments have great elaboration in other KZbin videos and books

[@llstarlight]

something to think about is that with AI convincing content can be created quite quickly

[@queenistorichka]

actually, there IS Ukrainian Russian which is spoken a bit differently in different regions but there's still no standard because we are using Russian only as a spoken language more and more including local words and forms that we don't really need to invent standardized Ukrainian Russian because of having all official docs and so on only in Ukrainian (which makes sense) and for public press it may be a good idea but it'd take a lot of time to get used to having a new form of Russian "on paper" mostly because now we don't have single version of Ukrainian Russian

[@YuriyKravets29]

What exactly are you referring to? Поц? Тремпель? Ампулка? Кнопка? Болсанка? Those are dialect words and they are not russian, apart from that characteristic «шо» and «г» are also spread in Bryansk, Bilgorod, Kuban and Kursk. I would say your argument is invalid.

[@SvetlanaRakhim]

Anyway Ukrainians who speak Russian , do that in order to denazify the Russian language

[@Asptuber]

That's sort of Snyder's point. Ukraine should have a standardised form of Russian. It might be as simple as just formalising the spelling of those regional/dialectal words, and then using them in writing. (A bit like you have quite a bit of different words in German of Austria or Switzerland, like we in Finland have some Swedish words that don't exist in Sweden. The latter I am most familiar with, and it evolves pretty naturally not only from regional/dialectal usage, but also when you have concepts or legal structures that don't exist in Sweden.)

[@YuriyKravets29]

Interesting whether Mr. Snyder’s opinion has changed in 2022 or not?

[@karelkieslich6772]

If I remember correctly, he said in an interview (can’t remember where) last year that he now sees that Ukrainians will probably choose not to follow this path and that he thinks it may be a loss for Ukraine (or pity, I can’t remember the exact word he used) but a completely understandable decision he respects. So I would say he would be able to offer a slightly updated view if asked. As a Czech person, I see it as a loss that our country lost its German population, German literature and mixing of German and Czech cultures, I think the German Bohemian culture was extremely interesting (more than the German or Bohemian cultures alone), but I completely understand why our ancestors chose to expel the Germans from Czechia after 1945. (It’s not a historical analogy, I know that Ukraine is not planning to expell anyone, I’m just using it as an example of a situation where one might have wished to preserve diversity but understands that history can lead to a different results.)

[@myronsherbatuk6302]

The modern Russian language derives from the Church Slavonic tongue (itself derived from Old Bulgarian) imposed on the indigenous Finno-Ugric population of what is now Russia, the true progenitors of the Muscovite-Russian people. Russians are predominantly Finno-Ugric, with Balt and Tartar-Mongol admixture. Ukrainians are a Slavic-Iranian people, descended in part from the Scythians and Sarmatians. Two different peoples with two totally different origins. The Ukrainian language directly descends from the ancestral Proto-Slavic.

[@marpro765]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@marpro765]

👍👍👍👍👍

[@DavidEmerling79]

I think Timothy Snyder is brilliant. Sometimes I wonder if academicians who have dedicated their studies to a very specific area - Ukrainian history in this case - are sometimes biased in favor of that academic focus. The question is this: Is Snyder's clear pro-Ukrainian stance based completely on reason and facts (and it seems it is), or is it somewhat influenced by his passion for his studies. Then again, there is somebody like Jill Dougherty, a Russian expert who speaks Russian, who is certainly no advocate of Russia. She does not allow her studies of Russia to necessarily cause her to be pro-Russian. She uses her Russian knowledge to expose Russia.

[@bogdanbaudis4099]

To certain extent it would force Russians to commit either to Russian as one of universal languages (many Russians harbor this idea) or admit that Russia is an empire bent on Russification (therefore the Russian language is sole property of Russia state). It is not exactly necessary to abandon trying to control the language while at the same time managing to keep it as one of universal (that is: widely used outside the country of origin). French and German still holds as means of international communication in certain areas but historically the English example (loose and decentralized control) seems to prevail. It helps to have one or few strong leading countries (UK, USA, Canada, Australia with English) or organizations (Catholic Church with Latin) but it is also proven historically not exactly necessary: see Aramaic in Middle East in the centuries before and after 1AD.

[@ricardopontes7177]

Great interview. Strong Ukrainian as the sole state language, keep the Ukrainization process but also create a Ukrainian version of Russian.

[@Alex.Kalashnik]

Most Ukrainians speak surzhyk actually, which is a mix of Russian and Ukrainian. It’s basically Ukrainian with lots of Ukrainianized Russian vocabulary thrown in. Getting them to speak standard Ukrainian is hard enough without also taking on the task of standardizing Russian.

[@louisecorchevolle9241]

Peter the Great copied French Academy who rules the French languages swedish language is ruled by Swedish Academy also copied on the French Academy. So all people learning those languages refer to those academy. English has no Academy that is why if you read US TIME magazine the English is awfull. Snyders idea is just stupid. Just make Ukraine a bilingual country as Belgium, or quadrilingual as Switzerland for Ukraine trilingual Russian Ukrainian magyar Ukrainian have also better to day than Snyders idiotic idea find ways of not starving and not be the hostage of IMF Snyder does not found out yet that ukrainization is a political agenda to "holmodor" out russian language

[@BluegillGreg]

I learned Spanish in the USA from an Argentine professor. In Mexico people hearing my speech thought I was Italian.

[@DavidEmerling79]

That's funny! I'm a native English speaker but I learned Russian from a Polish instructor. I've been told I have a Polish accent when I speak Russian to a native Russian. I don't know *any* Polish! Over the years, I have listened to more native Russian being spoken and I think I may have rectified that problem. Unfortunately, I really do not get many (hardly any!) opportunities to speak Russian.

[@denisg284]

Взагалі ідея не погана. Можна було б зробити локальну версію російську мову. Так як і американська англійська спростити російську. Позбутися кучі не потрібних правил і спростити правописання, де літери відповідають звукам. О то б цікаво росіян кривило на слові "Харашо"). Це б гарно у половини Путінців палило 5у точку. Українська мова буде добре розвиватися не завдяки штучним обмеженням російської, а коли будуть створені умови для більш привабливого вживання української.

[@Alex.Kalashnik]

Оце дійсно було б цікаво!

[@extreme_vegoon]

Хм, я б на це подивилася. Але, на жаль, ідея не популярна, тому маєм те, шо маєм.

[@MrJohnverkerk]

Growing up with two languages was a lot of fun. But the thought of needing one to repel the false accusations of a neighbouring nation is grotesque. Why is it that way? Isn't the best thing a nation can do for itself is mind it's own business and enjoy the company of others? Naive? Obviously.

[@Namuchat]

It is quite funny to listen to Snyder talking about his ideas for cultural and language policies in Ukraine in a Kaffeehaus in Austria!! How and when did Austrians standardize "their" language in order to get full sovereignty over its inhabitants, not to get mixed with their (more numerous) neighbours using the same-not-the-same language ... ?

[@fleurynicolas7833]

Careful ! Think of the Balkans. The last thing you want is the politics to take control of your language and "set the rules". Languages evolve naturally and I do think that Russian in Ukraine is currently being localized / dialectalized. You may not like Surzhik but it might be the first step towards a Ukrainian version of Russian. In short, I think the local evolution of Russian is happening by itself. Best keep the politics out of it. No need for a Ukrainian State Russian language institute and a Russian language police of Ukraine. Ukrainian are more creative than that. And.. no, they won't give up Russian, though, yes... they might learn / improve / use more frequently Ukrainian. I have lived in Kyiv a few years (until very recently). I spent many years in various other part of the former Soviet Union. I speak Russian and do understand Ukrainian. Further, as a french speaking Swiss, I have some natural qualification on this topic and many personal reflections. I agree Ukraine should grow comfortable with the Russian language. I do find their current linguistic policies - based on a negative discrimination / frustration of the majority of people - totally inadequate and absolutely anachronistic. I do agree Ukraine would need to find more creative ways to promote Ukrainian. But I would be VERY careful advising Ukraine (or any other country currently trying to affirm its identity) to "localize"/ take control of Russian (or whichever other language). I worked in the Balkans and witnessed what happened to the wonderful language called Serbo-Croatian... Frankly, it would be laughable if it were not so sad. Have you seen the tri-lingual traffic signs in Sarajevo? Ever been at a meeting where one language (e.g. Serbian) is being translated into ... essentially the same thing with slightly different choice of expression (ie. Croatian, Bosnian or Montenegrin)? By the way, a correction: there is only ONE french grammar and ONE institution setting the rules for the whole of the french language: l'académie francaise. There are accents and local expressions but they are basically illegal variations. Dictionaries either won't have them or will mention that they are "popular locutions" (ie. incorrect). Sure, I laugh at the french academy and its old dated rules. Yet, if I understand Quebecois (or west africans) fairly well, it is precisely because no-one tried to distinguish their version of french from mine and teach us different things. All there is in french, is accents and expressions. There are no state institutions in charge of "localizing" / poseessing the french language. Unfortunately, Russian does not really have much by the way of local accents. It's just a fairly unique characteristic of this beautiful language... So accents are not an option for Ukrainians Russian speakers who want distinguish themselves from Russians. Thus, one of the way for them to possess / localize the russian language might precisely be to speak Surzhik. I know it's ne gramatnyi.. but precisely, that's what Quebecois or swiss french "dialects" are ... unacademic, uneducated. Not so long ago, pupils were beaten by the teacher when they used local words... Today we praise them... Go and figure. But please don't let politicians control what the language is or should be. Particularly if their aim is to make it as different as possible from the neighbor. The purpose of a language, after all, is to enable communication. Why should it hamper it?

[@Alex.Kalashnik]

Actually, Russian does have local variations. Russian spoken in the Moscow region is especially different, as they have a drawl in the way they speak, kind of like the English in Southern US. It immediately stands out. You can also always tell if a Ukrainian speaking in Russian is primarily a Ukrainian speaker by their accent. And even if their primary language is not Ukrainian, Ukrainians who speak Russian will usually use soft “g” (h) vs. the Russian hard “g” in words and other distinguishing characteristics like that, so you can usually tell where the speaker is from.

[@KirinTor1]

@@Alex.Kalashnik We speak the same Russian and Moscow and Siberia. Absolutely no difference.

[@imatrOlda]

You just made that interview in Wien. Don’t You know how an Austrian would react, if a German would correct him how to speak German??? And actually during the Nazi time the Austrian had (without noticing it) lost a lot of their Austrian German. Not to speak about Switzerland and their German.

[@Here0s0Johnny]

Merkel has a PhD in physics, no?

[@anthonypazana6105]

I point to your "Ukraine and the Future of Europe. The moderator FROM THE BEGINNING SPOKE RUSSIAN, the signage behind him is in russian, and the audience, if this is in Kyiv, is mostly packed by a russian audience. All the young people with their "geen" t shirt, Incredible!

[@IrishEire]

The signage is in German because this was recorded in Vienna, Austria (where they have their own Austrian-German dictionary btw). Or which sign are you referring to?

[@leotka]

First of all he need explain clearly what is Russian Language and what is Rus'ka Mova. Russian is dialect of Old-Bulgarian language - 55% compatibility, 11% compatibility with Ukrainian Mova, 17% compatibility with Polish Language, rest are Finish, Turkish and European languages.

[@andrejmucic5003]

I am trying to find a video of Timothy Snyder speaking Russian or Ukrainian? A tenured Prof at Yale MUST be able to speak the language of his speciality? He must be able to review Soviet or Russian historical archives? Or is he just a hack? Can he speak any language other than his own?

[@moodymango8855]

Of course, Professor Snyder speaks other languages. He is well-versed in various Eastern European languages, among them Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Yiddish. He also speaks French and German.

[@Asptuber]

Look for a video of Snyder interviewing Olena Zelenska.

[@catc8927]

He speaks 6 languages and reads over 10, from what I remember. For his books on the Holocaust, he read Polish sources in the original language.

[@DavidEmerling79]

I'm trying (without any success) to find a video of Timothy Snyder actually *speaking* Russian or Ukrainian. Difficult to find.

[@sarahsanford3682]

He spoke Ukrainian during an interview with Olena Zelenska during last years' YES conference.

[@LazyLoneLion]

I speak Russian and I'm Ukrainian. I'd rather not have Russian in Ukraine than have "Ukrainian Russian". Besides I don't feel that language problem is the biggest problem at this moment. I don't feel we need to spend money or resources on a foreign language or support it in any way.

[@Alex.Kalashnik]

That’s true. Most Ukrainians who speak Russian wish that Ukrainian had a higher status in Ukraine.

[@TheMahayanist]

That's fair. I definitely understand that perspective. In terms of easiness, the status quo is better. But Dr Snyder is talking more about political usefulness here.

[@NicolauWerneck]

Angela Merkel has a PhD in quantum chemistry

[@AlexanderDunetz]

Angela Merkel is from East Germany , a country which no longer exists as of 1989.

[@anthonypazana6105]

Who does the interviewer represent? I would like to hear from you...Good Bye

[@anthonypazana6105]

Ask the Poles to do the same the Chech, Any of the Slavic peoples to do this you are going to be laughed at. Learning a language in school for your own benefit, is different than making it a secondary language in a country that is being claimed by russia as one and the same, as a brother nation, Merde! I can't believe that you are dancing around this issue, You have had a bad dance teacher.

[@wisniaplpirate]

What an absurd comparison between the Polish language and Ukrainian Czech or Slovakian. The official language in Poland was Latin and Polish, not German. Piasts began to Germanize with time, but at that time it was quite normal, the monarchs often spoke other languages than their subjects, but never did the Polish nobility speak German as it was in the Czech Republic. I will not even mention the alleged Russian influence on the Polish language.

[@vladnikolaev1558]

Little-Russian was the dialect spoken in Ukraine, Great-Russia' in central Russia and White-Russia' in Belarus. The Russian language of literature was the language of science, academics, poets, etc. It would be better to compare with Poland which has also Little-Polish and Greater-Polish dialect.

[@Alex.Kalashnik]

Vlad Nikolaev What BS lol. The only reason Russian dominated over Ukrainian was that Ukrainian language was prohibited in the Russian Empire and was given the degrading moniker of “little russian”.

[@vladnikolaev1558]

@Iaroslav Karkunov I'm telling about the history. Before the creation of the Ukraine Soviet republic, the territory was called Little Russia, the language spoken Little-Russian. It was one of the Russian dialects. The same as in Poland, Little-Poland and Greater-Poland.

[@vladnikolaev1558]

@@Alex.Kalashnik Not correct. There were many published books in Little-Russian in the Russian empire. They were not prohibited. Great-Russian was also a dialect, Great-Russians also adopted the Russian language...as I said unification of dialects and creation of one state language was a natural process seen in many countries. Little-Russian wasn't lesser. It was just the name of the dialect. Little-Polish dialect also exists for example, doesn't mean that they are lesser of importance...

[@queenistorichka]

and also Poland was the empire itself so it has saved a lot of its culture because of that while for example Ukrainian was banned in Rzeczpospolita as it was banned in Russian empire

[@anthonypazana6105]

What a turnaround in your point of view, a great disappointment.

[@wewantthewholebakerynotonl1309]

What exactly do you mean?

[@anthonypazana6105]

All caucasian English speaking people who migrated throughout the world, were of English stock. russians and Ukrainians are not, russans are a predominantly people who are Mongol,Tatar and Ugric stock, not sSavic. The russian they speak was adopted from their their being part of Kyivan Rus for centuries. They from Wikipidia" not just my own creation, " (also , , in Moksha: Мокшет/Mokšet) comprise a Mordvinian ethnic group belonging to the Volgaic branch of the Finno-Ugric peoples. They live in the Russian Federation, mostly near the Volga River and the Moksha River, a tributary of the Oka River. Their native language is Mokshan, one of the two surviving members of the Mordvinic branch of the Uralic language family. "

[@louisecorchevolle9241]

primitive anti-russian is prof. Timothy Snyder

[@rozkminarozwojowa]

In Russia there is no Freedom of speech. Who is primitive?

[@alenkasic6558]

Nationalist nonsense

[@SandraSmith-vb5pf]

If It Was Up To You Everyone Should Believe Your Soft Propaganda. That’s ‘NORMAL’ 👀👀👀🌬💨💨💨Unbelievable 😱😱😱…. ‘NORMAL’ Yiddish.?

[@anthonypazana6105]

Standardize the russian language? it means that it will become a legal language by default. English allover the world is English, Polish is Polish, Chech is Chech, .russian is russian, Ukrainian is Ukrainian etc...There is no equality between Ukrainian and russian, not by a long shot. You are so far off the mark. I'm so surprised at this. My email is [e-mail]. Would love to have an answer, you are, with all due respect, starting to sound like a russian shill! And the language of the people that migrated to the colonies did not speak the kings Englin they spoke dialects, but still Englis. russian is russian and Ukrainian is Ukrainian and it is the major the glue that binds the country and cleaves it from russia finally.

[@TheMahayanist]

You don't have much political saavyness do you?

[@sebolddaniel]

I wonder what Doctor Snyder thinks of Zelinsky's kill list, like Roger Waters. Is it right for the USA to give billions to such a leader? And I wonder what Doctor Snyder thinks of Zelinsky destroying the labor unions in the Ukraine.