Why is Putin banning foreign words?
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that bans Russian government officials from using foreign words during formal duties.
Video transcript
- Why is Putin banning foreign words? Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law to ban Russian government officials from using the majority of foreign words while carrying out their formal duties. The amendments to the 2005 law reportedly aimed to protect and promote Russian as the national language.
"When using Russian as the state language of the Russian Federation, officials are not allowed to use words and expressions that do not correspond to the norms of modern Russian," reads a statement published to the Russian government's website. While most foreign words are included in the ban, the official statement includes an exception for words that do not have widely used corresponding equivalents in Russian. The reforms come amid persistent attempts to safeguard Russia from an encroaching Western influence, with the specific list of outlawed foreign words expected to be published soon. So now you know.
