SIMFEROPOL, May 22. /TASS/: Chairperson of the Ukrainian community of Crimea Anastasiya Gridchina has called on the world community to protect the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine.
Gridchina addressed the UN Security Council at an informal video conference on Thursday organized by the Russian permanent mission. According to her, the discrimination of the Russian-speaking population is now especially noticeable at schools and kindergartens of Ukraine, where children are forced to communicate exclusively in the Ukrainian language.
"I regret that in Ukraine the status of the Russian language has been repeatedly used and is still used as one of tools in political struggle. Today the official Kiev authorities cannot offer a solution to the language problem acceptable for all citizens and that’s why I believe that the global community should side with the Russian-speaking minority, which is abused because of the language," Gridchina said.
A poll carried out by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology showed that some 28.1% of Ukrainians speak Russian, and 15.8% of them speak only this language, she noted.
An informal video conference of the UN Security Council was convened by the Russian mission and is held upon the so-called Arria formula, stipulating the participation of social activists. The event focused on the situation in Crimea and the citizens of the Black Sea Peninsula took part in it for the first time.
