The fading influence of the Russian language

Sonia Connor 

Russia’s population is falling by 700,000 every year and now stands at 142 million. Putin worked tirelessly to reverse this decline, only to derail his efforts by ordering an invasion of Ukraine with the enlistment of 300,000 reservists. Yet alongside Russia’s decreasing population, the Russian language is swiftly losing its influence, as the number of mother-tongue speakers abroad is in steep decline. This phenomenon is not new to us: after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian speaking population was diminishing faster than that of any other language in the past 20 years. If Russian was beginning to lose its influence in the early 1990s, we are currently seeing the continuation of this phenomenon, as the Russo-Ukrainian war develops.

It is no secret that the national language feeds into a country’s identity. Since 2011 Putin has organised federal target programmes to promote Russian across the globe, aiming to counteract the growing tendency in former Soviet countries to use English as their second language. Having stated that the dissolution of the Soviet Union was a ‘genuine tragedy’ for the Russian people (April 2005), Putin’s projects to develop Russian as a global language highlight his desire to reinforce ties with Russian speaking communities across the world. Russia’s ‘compatriot policy’ exemplifies Putin’s resolution to protect the interests of ethnic Russians abroad, stemming from the nationalistic concept that Russian speakers are united by their shared past, religion, and language. Indeed, Putin defends the ‘protective’ role of the Russian Federation towards international Russian-speaking minorities by masking his nationalistic and political motives in the seemingly innocuous desire to promote the Russian language and culture.

Let’s examine the circumstances leading to the rejection of Russian in the post-Soviet era. Thirty years after regaining their independence, Kazakhstan finally abandoned the Cyrillic alphabet. In many ways, Kazakhstan’s linguistic reform represents the desire to ‘shed the trappings of captivity’ (Weafer 2017). Having operated under Soviet control for 55 years, it is perhaps no surprise that Kazakhstan seeks to redefine itself and broadcast its independence. The fall of the USSR saw an acute rise in the Kazakh language which replaced Russian as the primary language of education, yet, until now, President Nazarbayev had been hesitant to officially switch the national alphabet, at the risk of worsening relations with Russia. Set to take place between 2023 and 2031, the long-awaited transition to the Latin-based alphabet is a symbolic movement away from Russian influence and embodies Kazakhstan’s endeavours to adapt to a new era and develop a stronger alliance with the West.

Likewise, there have been many disputes over the role of Russian in the Baltic states. Due to the high number of Russians that migrated to the Baltics during the Soviet period, the Russian minority comprises roughly 25% of the current Latvian population. Latvia began issuing laws to increase Latvian teaching in Russian schools in 2004, but the movement was met with huge protests of around 15,000 people who accused Riga of forcing ‘linguistic suicide’ (November 2018). In 2021, the Latvian Government successfully reinforced this rule, asking all schools to teach primarily in Latvian with few exceptions, which resulted in many Russian speaking teachers retiring early. Nevertheless, opinions have changed since the early years of governmental efforts to phase out Russian; many Russians now view the policy as a practical reform which would better integrate them into Latvian society and the labour market.  

We have discussed instances of former Soviet countries phasing out the Russian language, but how has the Russian-speaking situation changed due to the Russo-Ukrainian war? In fact, the 2001 census confirms that 29% of the Ukrainian population speak Russian as a first language, which is roughly 14.3 million people. Hence, a significant portion of Ukraine, specifically the eastern and southern regions, have grown up speaking Russian, however this may be about to change. Indeed, the country has seen a rapid increase of Ukrainian language courses in the last year: although many native Russian speakers first expressed an interest in speaking Ukrainian after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the recent Russian invasion has pushed the majority to make a committed effort to speaking Ukrainian. For many, the willingness to learn Ukrainian in the eastern provinces has coincided with their alienation from the Russian identity on account of the war.

In a world where language is the foundation for national identity, the retreat of the Russian language in post-Soviet states is problematic for President Putin, as Russia hopes to regain its former influence on the global stage. Thirty years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, languages such as Estonian, Latvian, Kazakh and Ukrainian are flourishing more than ever, as countries look to establish their unique identities which distinguish them from the Russian Federation. The Russo-Ukrainian war has exacerbated this phenomenon and led to the increased popularity of the Ukrainian language amongst native Russian speakers, since many have begun to feel more affinity with their Ukrainian identity in the face of a brutal war.