State Language Protection Commissioner (language ombudsman)

Уповноважений із захисту державної мови · also Language ombudsman, Ivanovska

The official who enforces Ukraine's 2019 state-language law, handling complaints about services, websites and the like not using Ukrainian and able to impose fines; Olena Ivanovska has held the post since 2025.

The State Language Protection Commissioner, informally the language ombudsman, enforces the 2019 law on ensuring the functioning of Ukrainian as the state language and protects citizens' right to receive information and services in the state language, according to the English Wikipedia. The current commissioner is Olena Ivanovska.

In December 2025 Ivanovska said complaints about website language had fallen from 46% of all complaints in 2022 to 25% in 2025, but had shifted from sites with no Ukrainian version to sites loading Russian by default, and that social media were the new zone of tension. Bill No. 15430, under consideration in 2026, would let the commissioner fine service businesses playing Russian-language songs without prior warning.

Last updated 2026-10-26 · Suggest a correction