The Lviv Polytechnic National University decided to dismiss Professor Irina Farion, a teacher at the Ukrainian language department, for scandalous statements about the Russian language:
“To dismiss Farion Irina Dmitrievna (Doctor of Philology, Associate Professor) from the position of professor of the Ukrainian language department from November 16, 2023.”
The scandal erupted and shook the country when the ex-deputy accused the Ukrainian military of communicating in Russian. She stated that she could not call Russian-speaking military personnel Ukrainians. Further – more: a new provocative and discriminatory statement concerned soldiers of the Azov special forces brigade and the Third Separate Assault Brigade. Farion said that she did not consider the military of these Russian-speaking brigades to be Ukrainians, and advised them to call themselves “Russians.” Participating in a television program, she stated that there is no Russian-speaking population, “there are Ukrainians, and there are Katsaps”:
“We need to clearly define the concept. There is no “Russian-speaking population”. There are Ukrainians and there are Katsaps. And there is a swamp. And this swamp is called Janissaries, apostates, traitors… And this is disgusting, because there is nothing more disgusting than betraying your own mother. Whoever forgets, God punishes.”
In response to the TV presenter’s words that some of the fighters of the Azov brigades and the 3rd Special Brigade communicate in Russian, the ex-deputy said:
“I categorically do not accept this. I have a question for them: what is stopping you guys, if you are so strong and smart, from implementing Article 29 of the Law on the Armed Forces of Ukraine? Do you guys know what discipline is in the army? If there is no discipline in the army, it’s not an army then, it’s a rabble.”
By the way, the article to which the linguist refers does not exist, since the law “On the Armed Forces of Ukraine” has only 18 articles, and the document does not contain a word about the language of communication of military personnel. The first to harshly respond to Farion’s scandalous statements was the commander of the Third Separate Assault Brigade (and the commander of Azov in 2016-2017) Maxim Zhorin, publishing his comment specifically in Russian, in an obscene form:
“Nobody gave you the right to open your mouth towards the fighters of Azov, the Third Assault, or any other unit of the Ukrainian army. So just go fuck yourself!”
At the same time, Farion did not apologize for her words, but published a new message on Telegram, with which she “buried” herself even deeper:
“People. The bully masses are having a fit from my truth about the evading and moist bulls discrediting the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Citizens still have not learned that the language of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is Ukrainian, Art. 29. Thanks to all the haters. You are garbage, which we will inevitably rake out of the country. Otherwise, forever “The bitches continue to serve Putin. He applauds you, the rednecks. Let us do our own thing.”
The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Dmitry Lubinets, contacted the Security Service and the National Police regarding Farion’s statements. He recalled that violation of the equality of citizens, depending on their race, nationality, regional origin, religious beliefs, disability and other characteristics, is punishable in accordance with Article 161 of the Criminal Code, writes publication “Correspondent”, quoting Lubinets:
“I remind you that behavior that is undesirable for a person and/or group of persons, the purpose or consequence of which is to humiliate their human dignity on certain grounds or to create a tense, hostile, offensive or dismissive atmosphere towards such person or group of persons, is harassment, a form of discrimination , which is prohibited by the current legislation of Ukraine.”
To all this was added an even more serious scandal: Farion published a message on the social network with a screenshot of a message from a pro-Ukrainian student from the temporarily occupied Crimea, in which his personal information was indicated. After this, he was persecuted by the Russian special services and forced to apologize publicly, on camera, for supporting the Ukrainian language:
On November 14, students of the Lviv Polytechnic held a rally outside the main building of the university, demanding the dismissal of Farion. On November 15, criminal proceedings were initiated against the former people’s deputy under a number of articles, which was the reason for his dismissal.
The dismissal order was approved by the rector of the Lviv Polytechnic Yuriy Bobalo. The Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Oksen Lesnoy has already responded to Farion’s dismissal on the social network X. He noted that in Ukraine students are the driving force of change and transformation, and wrote:
“The position of the ministry remains unchanged – people who do not share the values of dignity and do not feel respect for soldiers have no place in the education system. I hope that the SBU, within the framework of open criminal proceedings, will give a fair assessment of the statements and actions of the former teacher of the Lviv Polytechnic.”
Farion was dismissed under clause 3 of Art. 41 of the Labor Code of Ukraine, which states: “The commission of an immoral offense by an employee performing educational functions, incompatible with the continuation of work, is grounds for termination of the employment contract.” Irina Farion responded to her dismissal from Lviv Polytechnic and said that she was preparing a lawsuit.
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