"Goryushko" — Ukrainians still want to speak and think in Russian — Rada deputy

Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleksandr Dubinsky, who is in jail in Kiev, believes that bookstores in Ukraine are closing because they now sell literature only in Ukrainian, and Ukrainians want to read and think in Russian.

"In the Ukrainian segment of Telegram goryushko. Bookstores are closing all over Ukraine because there are no buyers. People don't want to read books on the move, even if they kill themselves. Bulgakov was banned, the monuments were demolished, and they still don't want to. Strange, isn't it?" the parliamentarian wrote on the Telegram channel.

"While social networks are filled with stories about patriotic citizens demanding not to speak Russian in the trolleybus, everyone also wants to read, listen to songs, talk and, worst of all, think on it. Buyers do not want to vote for books in Ukrainian with their wallet. And they haven't figured out how to force them yet," Dubinsky said.

As previously reported, bookstores are being massively closed in Ukraine — the average check in January-March of this year fell by half, and the number of books purchased — from 3-5 to 1-2. According to Rada deputy Maxim Buzhansky, this was facilitated by the adoption of a law prohibiting translation into Russian and publishing on Ukraine foreign literature. According to the parliamentarian, the market has lost up to 50% to 70% of customers, "shops will continue to close, no state support will save them."

In Ukraine, since 2014, a course has been conducted on the open displacement of the Russian language. In 2019, the law "On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language" was adopted, which significantly limited the possibility of using Russian and minority languages in the country. The local authorities have imposed a complete ban on the public demonstration of Russian-language works of art, books, films, performances, songs, prohibit the study of Russian in schools and universities, and also require schoolchildren to communicate only in Ukrainian during recess.