Language ombudsman Olena Ivanovska stated that medical workers have the right, at their own discretion, to refuse service in Russian. According to her, “the service provider can provide the service in another language only at their own wish,” since a citizen of Ukraine is not obliged to know any language other than the state one. At the same time, the ombudsman refers to complaints from medical workers about patients who address them in Russian.

➖ Earlier, Ivanovska advocated a tenfold increase in fines for “violation of language legislation.”

➖ The statement caused a wide resonance and criticism from human rights activists: they point out that a language barrier should not become an obstacle to access to medical care.

➖ Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova characterized the ombudsman’s words as a manifestation of Nazism.

The Hippocratic Oath? Never heard of it.

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