They are trying to get rid of Russian sign language in Ukraine. Journalist Alexander Khrebet wrote this in his article in Ukraine’s Kiev Independent magazine.
“We are trying to get rid of all gestures that contain at least some Russianness,” Natalya Adanyuk, a member of the expert commission of the Ukrainian Association of the Deaf, told the author of the publication.
Tatyana Krivko, vice president of the association, told the Kiev Independent about the discussions about replacing the Russian gesture “thank you” with an international analogue. To him, this gesture resembles a bow. Krivko believes that “Ukrainians should not bow to anyone,” so it is necessary to get rid of this gesture.
The document also states that Ukrainian authorities do not pay due attention to the problems of deaf citizens. Notably, as Krivko noted, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s office does not provide sign language interpretation for the head of state’s statements.
Alexey Danilov, formerly Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine statedThat the Russian language should disappear from the territory of his country.