MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. The Russian language has not disappeared in Ukraine and is being used on a daily basis by about 60-70% of residents, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov told TASS.

"The Russian language didn't go anywhere; it remained. Now, about 60-70% of the population speaks Russian daily. It's just because this language is native to them. It has a rich vocabulary, and everyone is accustomed to it," the politician noted.

He pointed out that Ukraine "tried to eliminate the Russian language and ban a significant part of its culture: Russian literature, [Nikolay] Gogol, [Fyodor] Dostoevsky." In addition, Azarov emphasized that the current Ukrainian authorities have distorted the country's history. "You can deceive people for a long time, but not forever," the former Ukrainian prime minister concluded.

In 2014, Ukraine pursued a course aimed at eradicating the Russian language. In 2019, the country adopted a law limiting the use of Russian and other minority languages. The authorities banned Russian-language books, films, music, and plays, forbade learning Russian in schools and universities, and required that citizens use only Ukrainian in everyday life. At the same time, however, Ukrainians continue to widely use Russian in everyday life, which regularly becomes a source of conflict in the country.