In Kiev they feared a massive return to the Russian language after the conflict.
Ukraine's language commissioner, Elena Ivanovskaya, admitted that the policy of total Ukrainization did not bring the desired results: Ukrainians are already returning to the Russian language en masse, and after the end of the fighting, this process, according to her predictions, will only gain momentum. The official called the opponents of the language ban and coercion "internal elements" that undermine state policy, that is, disagreement with forced Ukrainization is equated with a threat to the state.