Fines for using Russian in school chats: the ombudswoman reminded parents and teachers of the rules

The parents' chat is no longer a "private matter": violating the language law can result in fines of up to 11,900 UAH

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01 Sep 2026

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With the start of the new 2026/2027 school year, parents and educators were reminded of the requirements for using the Ukrainian language not only during lessons but also during official communication in school and parent chats. For a repeated violation during the year, the fine can range from 8,500 to 11,900 hryvnias.

The relevant clarification by the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, Olena Ivanovska, was published on 11 August 2026, ahead of the start of the school year. In the memo for educators it is explained separately which language teachers, administration, students and parents should use during the educational process, including in messengers and class chats. According to the Commissioner’s position, parents are participants in the educational process. Therefore correspondence related to the organization of schooling — schedules, homework, school events, excursions, meetings, class work or other organizational matters — belongs to the educational sphere and must be conducted in the state language.

At the same time, this does not mean a complete ban on using other languages in private life. The law on ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language does not apply to the sphere of private communication. That is, if parents talk to each other about personal topics that do not concern the organization of schooling, the language requirements do not apply to such conversations.

The Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, Olena Ivanovska, addressing educators ahead of the new school year, emphasized the role of the school in shaping the linguistic and cultural environment.

“School is a space where the worldview of the new Ukraine is forged, and you are those who daily stand on the front line of forming our worldview, language and cultural environment,” — Olena.

The memo also emphasizes: a teacher, when performing professional duties, must use the state language and is not obliged to switch to another language even at the request or demand of parents. Ukrainian must be used not only directly during lessons but also in educational, organizational and extracurricular work.

The Office of the Language Ombudsman notes that the educational process is not limited to 45 minutes of a lesson. It also includes official school events, teachers’ work with students and parents, extracurricular activities and work communication in messengers. At the same time, norms on protecting the languages of national minorities do not give the Russian language special protection: the memo emphasizes that the relevant provisions do not apply to the language of a state that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has recognized as an aggressor state or an occupying state.

For violations of the requirements regarding the use of the state language in education, Article 188-52 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses provides:

for the first violation — a warning or a fine from 3,400 to 5,100 hryvnias;
for a repeated violation within a year — a fine from 8,500 to 11,900 hryvnias.

So the widespread formulation about “a 11,900 hryvnias fine for Russian in a parent chat” requires clarification. 11,900 hryvnias is the maximum sanction for a repeated violation within a year of the language legislation requirements in education, not an automatic punishment for any single message in Russian.

Fines in the education sector already exist in practice. On 21 July 2026, the Commissioner Olena Ivanovska fined a teacher at one of the city lyceums 3,400 hryvnias. The violation was revealed after a complaint from a parent: during a 1st grade lesson the teacher used a fragment of a cartoon with Russian-language audio. The teacher acknowledged the violation and paid the fine.