The Odesa cable car made announcements in Russian and ignored the ombudsman

At the Odesa Cable Car, an inspection confirmed violations of language law in customer service. An employee announced over a loudspeaker in Russian that the attraction was closing. The situation was reported by Anna Nerush, a representative of the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language. According to facebook.com.

The inspection was prompted by visitors’ complaints about announcements in Russian. The complaints were submitted several weeks apart, and visitors provided audio and video recordings as evidence.

The language ombudsperson had twice officially contacted the cable car’s administration to request an explanation. However, the deadline for a response passed without one. For failing to comply with the ombudsperson’s requirements for a second time, the cable car was issued a protocol for the second time.

Service providers have been required to communicate with customers in Ukrainian since January 16, 2021. Repeated violations of language law are punishable by a fine.

In Odesa Oblast, 189 rulings were issued in 2026 in cases involving administrative violations of language law.

We previously reported:

• Fines for violating language law: Odesa Oblast ranks second in Ukraine by number of rulings
• Russian in a building’s group chat: who could face a warning and a fine of up to UAH 6,800
• Russian language, signs, and books: Odesa’s “Masks” Theater issued four protocols at once
• Businesses in Korabelnyi inspected for compliance with language law: two violations found
• Fines for ignoring Ukrainian could increase tenfold: language ombudsperson calls for tougher measures