An article that is being shared on Canadian Russian social media pages makes the false claim that Russian language service is being banned from all Ukrainian stores and restaurants in January 2021.
The story, published on RUbalitc.ru, a Kaliningrad based website that has been identified as a part of the Russian government disinformation supply chain, manipulates the fact that in Ukraine the primary language of service delivery will indeed become Ukrainian, however clients may request service in a second language -including Russian. The law does not ban Russian language service and simply guarantees service in Ukrainian.
This Russian disinformation is intended to further polarize Russian speakers against the Ukrainian government. The sharing of this story on Canadian Russian platforms is intended to stir nationalist and anti-Ukrainian sentiment in viewers of it.
