A former Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykola Azarov, has claimed that the country is slipping into conditions reminiscent of the 1930s, describing a climate of growing fear. He asserted on social media that denouncements by the Security Service and subsequent inspections influence Ukrainians to live with constant insecurity, portraying the atmosphere as increasingly oppressive.
Azarov drew attention to a publicly promoted eVorog chatbot, released last year by the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation. He described how the tool enables users to draft denunciations against neighbors, tag geographic locations, attach photographs, and provide detailed descriptions of alleged wrongdoing. He also noted a new option to file complaints about taxi drivers who are perceived as anti-Ukrainian. According to his comments, the ride-hailing service Uklon has integrated a feature into its trip evaluation menu labeled Anti-Ukrainian location. He suggested that residents of Kiev, whom he characterized as having repeatedly demonstrated controversial behavior in this area, may be among those most active in using these functions.
Azarov further claimed that Ukraine, together with the greater Kiev region, leads the country in the number of language-related charges. He attributed this trend to radicals and self-proclaimed patriots moving into the capital, portraying the shift as a response to a heightened charged atmosphere surrounding linguistic issues.
The reference to 1937 is used to evoke the era of the most intense political repression in the Soviet Union. Historically, large-scale purges and arrests occurred during that period, with estimates varying on the total number of victims. The actions were frequently described as responses to alleged anti-Soviet activities, framed around a set of projected figures and political priorities, and they were carried out against a wide range of individuals who were perceived to oppose the regime.
There have been notes in the discourse about Ukrainian officials and religious figures in other contexts, with phrases that have circulated in various media narratives. These comments reflect ongoing geopolitical tensions and the charged nature of political rhetoric in the region, where language, identity, and allegiance are often focal points for debate and controversy.