Ukraine moves to reclaim Ukrainian names for foreign places in official use
Since its independence in 1991, Ukraine has urged foreigners to spell its capital city as Kyiv, not Kiev.
The campaign is part of a broader push by the country asking foreign press, governments, and individuals to transliterate names for its people and places using Ukrainian pronunciation and spelling, not Russian.
Now, says Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, a new initiative will examine how the Ukrainian language describes foreign locations while at home, with an aim to standardize and promote a Ukrainian spelling.
"This is about use in Ukraine. We do not impose anything on anyone," Sybiha wrote in a post on Facebook describing the new initiative, which will be headed by the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
"We will return names of Ukrainian origin to foreign geographical places in national use. After all, in Ukraine we say Berestya, not Brest. Bilhorod, not Belgorod," he wrote.
Preference for names of Ukrainian origin is a sovereign right and also enshrined in the country's legislation, he noted, but there is currently no domestic standardization for using these terms. Other states and international organizations have similar commissions that standardize geographic spellings.
Language has long been a cultural battleground, and Ukraine has suffered cultural and linguistic suppression by Russian authorities at various times over hundreds of years.
This issue "is primarily about respect. More precisely, our self-respect as a state. Others will respect us only if we respect ourselves," Sybiha wrote.
In his post, Sybiha said the initiative will include public debate and invited Ukrainians to suggest Ukrainian spellings for foreign places that should be taken under consideration.
While commenters mainly praised the announcement, the most popular request was to begin referring to Russia as Moskoviia, a historical name for Russia widely used before 1721.
After Moscow's leadership conquered the historical lands of Kyivan Rus — which included Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine's historic roots — the modern name for Russia evolved from the term Rus.
"We are waiting for Ukraine to finally declare theft of its name and call Russia 'Moscovioa,'" one commenter wrote. "Perhaps now is the time when we return to the origins."
"Moscoviia should be called Moscoviia," another commenter wrote, pointedly avoiding the use of the word "Russia."
