«He cursed me for asking to stop in Ukrainian»: Mykolaiv police opened a case against the minibus driver

In Mykolaiv, criminal proceedings have been initiated on the fact of violation of the equality of citizens.

This was reported in the main police department of the Mykolaiv region.

As you know, yesterday, October 23, in the Contact Center of the Mykolaiv City Council, a resident published a post where she reported how a public transport driver had spoken obscenely to a female passenger who was asking for a stop in the official language.

— I didn't understand why the driver of minibus 53, apart from the fact that he cursed all the way so that it makes my ears tingle, even for a request to stop, voiced in Ukrainian, he cursed me! I ask you to take measures regarding the vocabulary and even more so the rejection of the language, — Mila Soboleva reported.

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Based on this fact, investigators of the Mykolaiv District Police Department opened criminal proceedings under part 1 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine («Violation of the equality of citizens depending on their nationality or on other grounds»).

The sanction of the article provides up to three years of imprisonment with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years or without such.

The police are identifying all the participants of the event.

As you know, this is not the first case when locals in Mykolaiv are insulted for using the Ukrainian language in everyday life. A similar situation occurred in the city center, where a woman began insulting a passerby for speaking in Ukrainian.

Later, the police started criminal proceedings on the fact of violating the equality of citizens.

Language ombudsman Taras Kremin also reacted to the situation, saying that such discrimination is not typical in Ukraine.

Later, in the Korabelnyy district of Mykolaiv, an intoxicated man began insulting women who were communicating with each other in Ukrainian.

Let us also emphasize that as of today, the number of people who speak Ukrainian in everyday life, in particular, in Mykolaiv, has become a record for the years of Ukraine's independence.