UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE AS A SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE AGAINST THE INVASION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Abstrakt

In the Russian-Ukrainian conflict of identity, which began with the incorporation of ethnic Ukrainian lands into the Muscovite state and has been ongoing with varying intensity for almost 370 years, and has had the dimension of a large-scale war since the end of February 2022, language is not of little importance. Throughout history, as Ukrainians have defended the preservation of their national identity, an important, yet invisible front line has generally run along the language issue. While the Russian language has been used by the Kremlin as a pretext for invasion (the alleged defense of the Russian-speaking population), Ukrainian is often their last bastion of freedom and independence. While in Russia the Ukrainian language is treated as a manifestation of Russophobia in itself, for Russian-speaking residents of the occupied regions of Ukraine it has become a symbol and often the only possible manifestation of resistance to the invaders. A symbolic tool of struggle and defiance, an expression of hope, a yearning for independence and the epitome of patriotism in Russian-occupied cities is the Ukrainian letter "Ї." In Russian-occupied cities such as Mariupol and Henichesk, the underground resistance movement adopted this very letter as a kind of symbol of freedom, painting it on walls, sidewalks, monuments, and other public places, risking repression and loss of life. The article sheds light on a unique aspect of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict and analyzes how a single Ukrainian letter became, for predominantly Russian-speaking Ukrainian cities, a source of mobilization, a tool of resistance and expression of a non-Russian identity, a symbol of defiance against attempts to impose foreign military, political, and cultural domination.