Defender of the Ukrainian language killed – western media on the shooting of Iryna Farion

Western news agencies report the death of linguist, professor, former Ukrainian parliamentarian, and activist Iryna Farion, known for her radical statements against the Russification of Ukrainians, from a gunshot to the temple.

This is reported by VOA.

“She became known for her consistent promotion of the Ukrainian language and discrediting public officials who spoke Russian,” Reuters reports.

The British newspaper The Guardian published an article about the murder titled “Ukrainian language advocate killed in Lviv.”

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine confirmed that Iryna Farion was shot on July 19 in Lviv. She died in the hospital from her injuries. “The crime has been reclassified as premeditated murder under part 1 of article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” the ministry’s website states. This article provides for imprisonment for up to fifteen years.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky reported that the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security Service of Ukraine are personally briefing him on the search for the attacker on Iryna Farion, with “all necessary forces of the National Police of Ukraine and the SBU” involved.

“Obviously, any violence deserves only condemnation, and everyone responsible for this attack must bear full responsibility,” Zelensky wrote while doctors were still fighting for Farion’s life.

Law enforcement officers are currently trying to identify and apprehend the attacker.

Journalist Vitaliy Portnikov reported that a man, approximately 20 years old, had been loitering near Farion’s house in recent days, according to her neighbors.

This information was confirmed by Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. He said that both Lviv and Kyiv police and criminologists are working on the case. The main theories include Farion’s public and political activities and personal enmity, with other versions not being excluded. The minister stated that there is some information about the crime and its perpetrator, which is not yet being disclosed.

Radio Svoboda reminds us that Iryna Farion was 60 years old and served as a deputy in the Verkhovna Rada during the seventh convocation from 2012 to 2014 with the Svoboda party. She held radical views on the functioning of the Ukrainian language, and some of her statements sparked loud public debates.

“In 2018, when Ukraine was at war with Russian-backed separatists who seized territory in the east, she called to ‘punch every Russian speaker in the jaw’,” Reuters writes.

The agency also informs its audience that “although Ukrainian is the only state language of Ukraine, many citizens speak Russian as their native language, a legacy of Soviet rule when Ukrainian was under official pressure.”

Iryna Farion authored books about the norms, “beauty and power” of the Ukrainian language, Stepan Bandera, Ivan Pulyui, Markiyan Shashkevych, the need to resist anglicisms, and more.

“This was a shot at Ukraine,” singer Maria Burmaka wrote emotionally. “Iryna Farion talked about prominent Ukrainians who died for an idea on her YouTube channel. She herself died for an idea. It is unlikely that anyone will defend the Ukrainian language as fiercely and uncompromisingly. Language matters. Iryna Dmytrivna Farion was killed for it. Eternal memory.”

Ukraine Front Lines

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