In violation of international law, norms, and legal practices of the civilized world the occupation regime of russia began to ban the Ukrainian language replacing it with Russian from the first minutes of seizing part of the Ukrainian territories.

The educational process of Ukraine is among the first victims of linguocide - the purposeful destruction of the Ukrainian language as the main sign of ethnicity. The russian aggressors began to russify schools everywhere at the occupied territories. Due to the opposition of school principals and teachers, the vast majority of educational institutions has gone online and has been resisting thieves since the first days of the occupation.

More and more new facts about the "educational genocide" are added to the numerous ones which the Commissioner's Secretariat began to collect from the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine - February 24, 2022. Among the crimes, recorded in the field of education by various sources, are the following:

• intimidation of teachers and parents for refusing to cooperate with the occupiers;

• abduction of schoolchildren;

• prohibition to communicate in Ukrainian in educational institutions;

• removal from the list of school subjects of Ukrainian language and literature, history of Ukraine, defense of Ukraine, geography, and from libraries - textbooks, dictionaries, reference books and fiction by Ukrainian authors;

• conducting educational events in educational institutions that justify the Russian invasion, distort the history of Ukraine etc.;

• dismissal of school principals for refusing to cooperate with the occupying "authorities" and appointing puppets from residents loyal to the occupiers;

• introducing positions of "political managers" at schools;

• theft of multimedia equipment, computer equipment, transport, furniture etc. from schools, colleges and universities.

There’s another glaring fact when the Minister of Education of the russian federation, Sergei Kravtsov, who is reproached with a fake Ph.D., announced the introduction of the teaching of the "classical Ukrainian language" at schools at the temporarily occupied territories, which in fact is the destruction of the Ukrainian language due to its subsequent absorption by russian. After all, the real goal of the occupiers is to push the concept of native language, traditions, and identity out of the minds of Ukrainian schoolchildren.

Loathing to everything foreign could be traced not only in the territories occupied by the russians. For example, in the russian federation, which "takes care" of the preservation of the Ukrainian language in Melitopol’, Berdyansk and Mariupol’, which had been encroached upon by terrorists, you can’t find neither a school classroom with the Ukrainian language of instruction, nor books in the Ukrainian language or a cultural center. It is almost the only country in the world that glorifies and finances extremism and dictatorship living by the past.

The other day, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted an important order on the introduction of strict sanctions against teachers-collaborators in the occupied territories, who switched to the side of the russians, and against "educational institutions" that work according to the "educational standards" of russia. "Teachers" and educational institutions in the temporarily occupied territories, that spread educational standards of the russian federation and recognize educational qualifications awarded by higher education institutions of the russian federation, are subject to special economic and other sanctions for 5 years. Sanctions are also applied to a number of russian institutions of higher education and their leaders and scientists who are responsible for the propaganda of russia's aggressive war against Ukraine. I am sure that the ministers there, including Kravtsov, who went to the occupied Ukrainian cities, will not be able to hide from justice. In general, according to the Ministry of TOT, sanctions apply to 81 individuals and 53 legal entities.

Having such solid evidence of crimes in international courts, including the European Court of Human Rights, we continue to document the facts of linguocide in the occupation to bring to justice those who involved in the destruction of the Ukrainian language as the basis of our identity. War criminals, having gone against the people of Ukraine, will be defeated.

European, independent, educated Ukraine will win!