Brittney Griner's detention in Russia has significant political implications, with many seeing her as a "political pawn" in US-Russia relations.

Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February 2022 for allegedly carrying hashish oil, with her trial postponed until July 7.

The US government has deemed Griner "wrongfully detained" and is working to secure her release, with President Biden and VP Harris personally reassuring her wife.

Griner's detention has sparked outrage and calls for US government action, with many seeing her as a hostage of the Russian government.

The Russian government claims Griner's detention is due to possessing prohibited medication, not politics.

Many believe Griner's detention is a bargaining chip for Russia to exchange her for imprisoned arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges and was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.

Griner's Russian jail cell had poor conditions, including beds too small for her 6'9" frame.

Griner was released in a US-Russia prisoner swap in exchange for Viktor Bout.

Griner's family thanked President Joe Biden and his administration for bringing her home.

The US government's efforts to free Griner reflect the political and geopolitical implications of her arrest.

Griner has resumed practicing basketball, having also been allowed to play during her detention in Russia, though it didn't feel right at the time.

The basketball world is behind Brittney Griner with support from the NBA and WNBA.

Cherelle Griner thanked the Biden Administration and Congress for their efforts in bringing Brittney home.

The US government supported Brittney Griner after her release, with the White House calling her an "inspiration" to the LGBT community.

Griner was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center for medical treatment and mental health evaluations.

Brittney Griner's detention in Russia has significant political implications, with many seeing her as a "political pawn" in US-Russia relations.

Title:

Content: The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.

American basketball star Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia since February. She has been facing drug possession charges for carrying vape cartridges in her luggage that contained cannabis oil. The charges carry a potential sentence of up to 10 years in jail.

Griner pleaded guilty to the drug charges in Russian court Thursday, while stressing that she had packed in a hurry and not intended to break Russian law. Regardless of Thursday’s plea, observers have not expected Griner to receive justice in the Russian legal system.

Griner’s wife, Cherelle, has accurately called her a “political pawn” caught up in the fraught relationship between the U.S. and Russia amid the latter’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine. There should be little doubt that Griner’s detention is bigger than vape cartridges.

With frustrations increasingly being voiced by Griner’s family that President Joe Biden and his administration haven’t been doing enough to help her, Griner sent a letter to Biden on Monday asking for assistance for herself and other American detainees. For example, Paul Whelan, who also previously served in the Marines, was accused of being a spy and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.

“As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever,” Griner wrote in her July 4 letter to Biden.

Marine veteran Trevor Reed knows a thing or two about what Griner and Whelan are going through. Reed was detained in Russia for three years before being released in April as part of a prisoner exchange.

“There is no justice in Russia,” Reed told CNN in June. “Brittney and Paul will not receive justice in Russia. They’re not going to receive a fair trial, they will not receive a fair investigation. They will be there as hostages until the United States gets them out.”

He added that Griner was likely to be treated worse in Russia because of her race and sexual orientation, saying that the country “systematically discriminates” against Black and LGBTQ+ people.

There is only so much the Biden administration can do with Griner in the custody of an authoritarian government known for making examples out of political prisoners, and likely looking for a bargaining chip as it continues its barbaric invasion of Ukraine. Though as demonstrated by Reed’s release, there are options. It must not take three years.

At the very least, for now, Biden and his team can control how they communicate and reassure Griner’s family. And on that front, it seems the administration had been coming up short.

Griner’s family and friends had criticized the Biden administration’s handling of her case, and called for the president to meet with them. On Wednesday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris finally had a phone call with Cherelle Griner.

“The president called Cherelle to reassure her that he is working to secure Brittney’s release as soon as possible, as well as the release of Paul Whelan and other U.S. nationals who are wrongfully detained or held hostage in Russia and around the world,” the White House said in a statement after the call. “He also read her a draft of the letter the president is sending to Brittney today.”

That statement also noted that top administration officials have already had calls with Cherelle Griner in recent weeks, and said Biden has directed his national security team to stay in “regular contact” with the Griner family. A U.S. diplomat said they delivered Biden’s letter to Griner at Thursday’s proceedings.

Biden’s call with Griner’s wife was an initial step, and the ultimate goal must be a quick release for Griner and other political prisoners. There is much work left for the administration to do, including a continual commitment to assure Griner’s family that the U.S. is exploring all possible options to secure her release. And hopefully the attention will elevate the pressure to help return other Americans like Whelan as well.

“Write them, call them, annoy them, don’t leave them alone,” Reed said in June about pressuring federal representatives to act. “Tell them you want Brittney home and you want the rest of the Americans who are being wrongfully detained home, and you want it done now.”

Add us to the list of people looking to raise the pressure on the Biden administration to bring home wrongfully detained Americans like Griner, who are essentially hostages, and to bring them home quickly.

The BDN Editorial Board

The Bangor Daily News editorial board members are Publisher Richard J. Warren, Editorial Page Editor Susan Young, Assistant Editorial Page Editor Matt Junker and BDN President Todd Benoit. Young has worked...

Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February 2022 for allegedly carrying hashish oil, with her trial postponed until July 7.

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Content: - The Washington Times - Friday, July 1, 2022

As pressure mounts on President Biden to take more aggressive action to get Moscow to release jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner, the international chatter increasing points to a prisoner swap for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Russian media and Bout’s lawyer, Steve Zissou, say Russian officials want to secure Bout’s release and that Griner, who has been locked up in Russia since February, could be part of a deal.

“I would be surprised if any American was repatriated without Viktor Bout also being sent home to his family,” Zissou told The Washington Times.

Bout is serving a 25-year sentence in federal prison. He was convicted of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens, delivering anti-aircraft missiles, and providing aid to a terrorist organization, charges his lawyer disputes.

Another detained American, former Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested in Russia on espionage charges in 2018, could also be part of a prisoner swap for Bout.

Mr. Zissou said the deal would likely have to include Bout. The lawyer met last month with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, who said that freeing Bout “was Russia’s number one priority,” according to Mr. Zissou.

Griner, meanwhile, made her first appearance in court on Friday and was accused of possessing “a significant amount of cannabis oil,” which is a banned substance in Russia. She faces likely conviction and a decade in prison when her trial resumes on July 7.

Griner, 31, was arrested at the airport in Moscow on Feb. 17 for allegedly carrying vape cartridges with hashish oil. She was visiting the country to play for a Russian basketball team after the conclusion of the WNBA season.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Griner is being held as a political pawn, The Associated Press reported.

“The facts are that the famous athlete was detained in possession of prohibited medication containing narcotic substances,” Peskov told reporters on Friday. “In view of what I’ve said, it can’t be politically motivated.”

Still, Russia’s desire to free Bout complicates matters for Mr. Biden, who is weathering intense criticism for failing to secure the release of Griner, a center for the Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Dozens of organizations, including women’s and LGBTQ groups, have pressed Mr. Biden to step up efforts to secure Griner’s release. They called on the president “to make a deal to get Brittney back home to America immediately and safely.”

While Bout’s lawyer disputes the charges against him, Bout was convicted of far more serious crimes than Griner’s drug charge, which could make it difficult for the Biden administration to agree to a swap.

Griner’s high-profile detainment comes at a historically difficult point in the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Russia. Griner was arrested just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to invade Ukraine on February 24.

The U.S. has condemned the invasion and responded by providing Ukraine with weapons and other support to defend itself from Mr. Putin’s forces.

With Griner in detention, Russian officials are now intensifying efforts to secure the release of Bout, whose targeting and conviction by the United States has long been viewed as an attack on Russian sovereignty.

Russian media is reporting that a swap for Bout is on the table.

“Currently, talks are underway on exchanging Bout for Griner,” Tass news reported, citing an unnamed Russian source.

Nicknamed the “Merchant of Death,” Bout was convicted in 2011 in a U.S. government sting operation of planning to smuggle arms to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The witnesses hired to portray FARC told Bout the arms would be used to target U.S. military serving in Colombia.

Bout, 55, is about five years from completing his sentence and is in failing health, his lawyer said.

Mr. Zissou said he is trying to elevate the circumstances surrounding his client’s case to improve his appeal as a candidate for a prisoner swap.

The U.S. targeted Bout while he was living in Moscow and retired from running an air transport company that also smuggled arms from one country to another.

The U.S. government paid more than $10 million to criminals as part of the operation to catch Bout.

“Entrapment is exactly what happened,” Mr. Zissou said.

Mr. Zissou said exchanging Griner for Bout is “a no brainer,” because his client will be freed in a few years regardless.

Last week, Russian officials extended Griner’s pretrial detention by six months. With Russia’s acquittal rate in criminal cases at less than 1%, it’s unlikely she will be able to return to the U.S. without a prisoner exchange.

Pressure is also on Mr. Biden to also secure the release of Mr. Whelan, 52, who is serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian prison camp.

“It’s certainly conceivable that a swap for Whelan and Bout gets agreed to, and then at the end of Griner’s trial, if she’s convicted, she just gets pardoned and sent home,” Mr. Zissou said.

In a statement provided to The Times, the State Department declined to provide details about the talks to free Griner.

“We have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas,” a State Department spokesman said. “The Department of State has determined that the Russian Federation has wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Brittney Griner. The U.S. government will continue to provide appropriate support to Griner and her family. We will continue to press for her release.”

• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.

Copyright © 2022 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

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The US government has deemed Griner "wrongfully detained" and is working to secure her release, with President Biden and VP Harris personally reassuring her wife.

Griner's detention has sparked outrage and calls for US government action, with many seeing her as a hostage of the Russian government.

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Content: The problem is not just what happened to Brittney Griner. The problem is that we don’t know what is happening to Brittney Griner now. The WNBA superstar was allegedly caught with hashish oil in her luggage at a Russian airport and has been in custody for several weeks. For those first couple of weeks, it was as if no one noticed she was missing, no small feat for an athlete who is six foot nine and one of the most recognizable players in the history of the game. She also is also well-known in Russia, where she plays for UMMC Ekaterinburg in the WNBA off season. In 2021 she helped the Russian team win its fifth EuroLeague Women’s championship. (Many WNBA players hoop in Russia during the off-season, as they need to supplement their income, an injustice in and of itself.)

Almost certainly, instead of creating an immediate public outcry following her arrest, there were efforts behind the scenes to get her out of Russia, which, we know now, was preparing to invade Ukraine. The goal would have been to make this go away without provoking an international incident. Well, it’s too late for that now. There are online petitions and a predictable uproar given the anti-Putin sentiment in the States. Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, posted a picture of them together on Instagram as the news spread over the weekend. She thanked their fans and then wrote, “I understand that many of you have grown to love BG over the years and have concerns and want details. Please honor our privacy as we continue to work on getting my wife home safely.”

In other words, delicate negotiations to get Griner home are almost certainly ongoing in a situation that is spiraling. Griner is detained in Russia at a moment when US-Russian relations are at their worst since Ronald Reagan joked, “We begin bombing in five minutes.” When and how she gets home and how she is being treated right now are anyone’s guess. As basketball writer Tom Ziller put it, “We don’t have an idea as the public WNBA fandom where Griner is, or how she is doing, or how long she has been detained, or the circumstances of her custody, or what she knows about a timeline for being released, or what she’s being told. We don’t really know anything, and we don’t know whether she or those close to her know anything.”

Whether it started this way or not, we need to understand Griner as a political prisoner. It may have started with airport racial profiling and the idiotic war on cannabis. But now, by the nature of this perilous moment, she has become a chit, a leverage point, in a larger political war.

The WNBA and Griner’s team, the Phoenix Mercury, are being tight-lipped about the situation—as is the US State Department. But I did reach the coauthor of Griner’s 2014 memoir In My Skin: My Life On and Off the Basketball Court, Sue Hovey. The former ESPN The Magazine executive editor told me: “Brittney Griner is one of the most resilient, mentally tough athletes I’ve ever met. When she led Baylor to a perfect season and the national championship in 2012, she did so while having to endure a torrent of vicious verbal attacks from opposing fans and online trolls. People forget that when she graduated from Baylor in 2013 and publicly came out as gay upon entering the WNBA, that was still a big deal at the time; it wasn’t nearly as common as it is today for athletes to reveal their authentic selves. Brittney was, and continues to be, a trailblazer in eschewing gender norms. Even eight years after her memoir was published, I still get the occasional Twitter message from a college student who read her book in a gender studies class, or just a fan expressing gratitude for Brittney sharing her story. Like many athletes, she has had some stumbles and controversy along the way, but she always takes accountability and shows a willingness to learn and grow. And in an age of curated social media content, there’s something refreshing about a high-profile athlete who gives us that three-dimensional view. She’s relatable and human, and that resonates with people.”

It is absolutely true that Griner resonates with people, and now many of her fans are up in arms. If the goal was to quietly negotiate Griner’s return, those days are done. At this point, there is really no choice but to shine the brightest possible light on this political injustice and demand that she be sent home. Political prisoners are rarely freed easily. It requires—and demands—an international response. Brittney Griner is a basketball titan who deserves more than to be treated like a pawn.

The Russian government claims Griner's detention is due to possessing prohibited medication, not politics.

Many believe Griner's detention is a bargaining chip for Russia to exchange her for imprisoned arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges and was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.

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Content: Diplomat Sparks Renewed Hope For Brittney Griner Prisoner Exchange

The situation surrounding Brittney Griner's case is looking a little less bleak, thanks to the recent developments brought about by negotiations between the U.S. and Russia.

In early November, the WNBA star had been transferred to a penal colony in the Russian republic of Mordovia. There, she began fulfilling her nine-year sentence for drug possession. As reported by Reuters, authorities initially arrested Griner in February 2022 after vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were discovered in her luggage at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. While she attempted to appeal the ruling, it was ultimately upheld by a Russian court.

"This has been [a] very traumatic experience, waiting for this day, waiting for the first court, and getting nine years for a crime that I was barely over the significant amount," she said at the hearing (via CBS News). "I don't understand the first court's decision to give one year less than the max when I've been here almost 8 months, and people with more severe crimes have gotten less than what I was given... I really hope that the court will adjust this sentence, because it's been very, very stressful and very traumatic to my mental and psyche, being away from my family and not being able to communicate." However, there is now renewed hope that Griner could be released, with a Russian diplomat claiming that a swap could happen sometime in the future.

Russian diplomat says there's 'always a chance' for a swap

Not all hope is lost, after all. According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Russia is not turning its back on the possibility of a prisoner exchange with the U.S. As reported by the New York Post, Ryabkov told reporters that there is "always a chance" when asked about the likelihood of a swap taking place before the end of the year. However, he noted that in the past, there had been multiple instances when it seemed as if Russia would agree to a swap, only for the plan to fall apart. If the prisoner swap does take place, Ryabkov said it would "send a positive signal that not everything is hopeless in Russian-American relations."

In the meantime, it looks like Brittney Griner has her work cut out for her. Maria Alyokhina, a former member of the band Pussy Riot, didn't mince words when she spoke to NPR about her own experience at a Russian penal colony. "It has a bit better conditions than [the] original gulag system from the 1950s," she said, but added that it's still "a labor camp." She described the grim reality she endured while serving out her own sentence, calling it inhumane. "For 100 women, there are like three toilets and no hot water," she recalled, adding that the penal colony is merely a "legal slavery system."

According to a statement released by her lawyers (via BBC), she is trying her best to survive and is "doing as well as could be expected and trying to stay strong as she adapts to a new environment."

Griner's Russian jail cell had poor conditions, including beds too small for her 6'9" frame.

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Content: Brittney Griner is ‘OK’ Despite Russian Extended Detention for Drug Charge

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  • Brittney Griner is “OK”Insider heard from a source that the Russian jail was holding him, even though he was not in it.
  • The WNBA star has met with her legal team “multiple times a week,”Source added
  • Russia announced that Griner’s imprisonment would be extended to May on Friday.

Brittney Griner — the WNBA superstar who has been held in Russia for several weeks — is doing “OK”Insider was told by a source familiar with the situation that Russian prisoners are being held in Russian prisons.

Since February 17, Russian agents took custody of the 6-foot-9 center. They claimed that she had vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. Insider has heard from a source who said that Griner’s had been in custody for the center since February 17th, when agents at Sheremetyevo airport claimed she found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. “Russian legal team has seen her multiple times a week.”

Griner was handcuffed at a Moscow court one month after her arrest. This was as her legal team challenged her ongoing detention.

Insider was told by a source that Griner’s legal team approached the hearing on Thursday “with the hopes of having Brittney transferred to house arrest.” Instead, the court ruled that the two-time Olympic gold medalist must remain in custody until at least May 19 — a decision that “was not unexpected,”According to the source.

The person — who is familiar with Griner’s legal circumstances but spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for Griner’s continued safety — stressed that Thursday’s proceedings were “not a hearing on the merits”She was convicted of a drug-related offense and is facing a maximum term of 10 years imprisonment.

“The investigation is still ongoing,”According to the source. “Once it has concluded, a trial date will be set. Until then, the court extends detention by periods of time.”

“If the investigation is not finished, the May hearing is to contemplate how much longer the court needs to extend,”They were also added.

Russian media outlet TASSGriner complained Thursday that her only grievance while in captivity is that the beds in her jail cell were too small for Griner, who stands 6’9″. Griner shares a cell in which she is confined with two other inmates who both speak English and have assisted her to navigate the situation.

Griner had been traveling to Russia in the days preceding her arrest to play for European powerhouse club UMMC Ekaterinburg. She’d done this every WNBA offseason since 2014.

Around half of WNBA athletes travel abroad in winter to play. Their relatively low salaries can be supplementedFrom the domestic league. Stars can earn significantly more abroad than they could in the States, and Griner is a prime example of this pay gap.

The seven-time WNBA All-Star is expected to bring home a trophy this year. League-maximum base salary of $227,900From the Phoenix Mercury. She’s eligible to earn more through bonuses and marketing opportunities if her stay in the US is for the winter. According to reports, she is paid $1 million per season by the UMMC Ekaterinburg. Jeff Metcalfe of the Arizona Republic.

This two-season-per year lifestyle is not ideal, even under normal circumstances. Griner, an athlete, often finds themselves with nagging injuries and rapid wear and tear that can hinder their professional careers.

But during moments of international crisis — like the early days of the pandemic or right now, as Russia wages war in Ukraine — WNBA players taking on second jobs overseas becomes all the more perilous. Griner could be a collateral victim of the fiery feud between the two superpowers due to the rapidly changing relationship between her country and her off-season home.

Antony Blinken Secretary of State said that the US is prepared to deal with any situation geopolitical. “provide every possible assistance”Griner and other detained citizens abroad per ESPN

“There’s only so much I can say given the privacy considerations at this point,”Griner was mentioned by Blinken. “Whenever an American is detained anywhere in the world, we of course stand ready to provide every possible assistance, and that includes in Russia.”

Griner was released in a US-Russia prisoner swap in exchange for Viktor Bout.

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Content: Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner arrives in San Antonio after 10 months in Russian custody

Griner was transported to Brook Army Medical Center's reintegration center upon her arrival.

click to enlarge
Instagram / brittneyyevettegriner
WNBA star Brittney Griner spent 294 days in Russian custody after customs officials in Moscow allegedly discovered vape canisters containing cannabinoid oil in her luggage.
WNBA star Brittney Griner touched down at San Antonio’s former Kelly Air Force base early Friday morning after 10 months in Russian custody, according to media reports.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist was smiling as she stepped off the plane at 4:30 a.m., the Express-News reports. Following her arrival, she was transported to Brooke Army Medical Center’s reintegration facility, where she will receive any necessary medical treatment.

Medical experts from UT Health San Antonio told KSAT that Griner also may undergo extensive mental health evaluations.

In February, Griner was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after customs officials allegedly found vape canisters continuing cannabinoid oil in her luggage. In August, she pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony. She spent 294 days in Russian custody, according to the daily.

The basketball star was released in a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia on Thursday, in which the Biden administration handed over notorious international arms dealer Viktor Bout.

In a statement, Griner's family offered “sincere gratitude” to President Joe Biden and his administration for their efforts in bringing her home, according to the Express-News. It is unclear how long Griner will be in San Antonio before returning home to her family.

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Griner's family thanked President Joe Biden and his administration for bringing her home.

The US government's efforts to free Griner reflect the political and geopolitical implications of her arrest.

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Content: Skip to main content

Russian court sentences Brittney Griner to 9 years, raising pressure on Biden

A Russian court Thursday sentenced U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in a penal colony after convicting her on a drug charge, a harsh penalty that keeps her fate entwined with the geopolitical showdown over the war in Ukraine and ramps up already intense pressure on President Joe Biden to win her release.

The U.S. government contends that she is among several Americans who have been “wrongfully detained” by Russia, used as bargaining chips in the increasingly hostile relationship between Moscow and Washington. The Biden administration has offered a prisoner swap involving Griner, but Russian officials said it was premature to discuss a deal while her case was underway.

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Now that the trial is concluded, Biden faces a difficult choice between standing firm on his proposal to trade for Griner and another American, Paul Whelan, or sweetening the offer somehow, with either position liable to draw domestic criticism.

Meanwhile the Kremlin can use them as leverage, with no incentive to resolve the cases quickly. Griner’s supporters, voicing horror at the verdict and sentence, are clamoring for the president to do something, while the administration is wary of giving in to Russian tactics it has all but labeled blackmail.

“My administration will continue to work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue to bring Brittney and Paul Whelan home safely as soon as possible,” Biden said in a statement after the verdict.

Griner, 31, one of her sport’s biggest global stars, sat mostly expressionless, eyes downcast, leaning her long frame toward the bars of the defendant’s box in a cramped courtroom outside Moscow to hear as the words of the judge, Anna Sotnikova, were quietly translated for her. She had already pleaded guilty, and conviction is all but certain in Russian courts, so the verdict was a foregone conclusion; the real question was about sentencing.

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The answer was devastating. The sentence was near the 10-year maximum for her conviction for attempting to smuggle narcotics into the country, based on two vape cartridges containing hashish oil found in Griner’s luggage when she arrived in February, a week before President Vladimir Putin sent Russian forces to Ukraine.

She and her legal team had hoped for a more lenient penalty based on her guilty plea, her statement that she had not meant to take the cartridges to Russia, and testimony that she used the substance legally in the United States to manage pain.

“I made an honest mistake, and I hope that in your ruling that it doesn’t end my life here,” she said before the sentencing.

She told the court that while she took responsibility for her actions, “I had no intent to break Russian law.” She said that after recovering from a bout of COVID, she had packed hurriedly to rejoin the Russian team she plays for in the WNBA offseason, and had accidentally left the cartridges in her luggage.

Griner’s defense team called the ruling “absolutely unreasonable,” said the court had “completely ignored all the evidence of the defense, and most importantly, the guilty plea,” and vowed to appeal. Elizabeth Rood, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, attended the court session and called the result “a miscarriage of justice.”

Russian officials have insisted that Griner’s case is simply the justice system running its course, with no political overtones — a claim that their U.S. counterparts and many Western analysts dismissed as absurd.

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William Pomeranz, a Russia expert and acting director of the Kennan Institute, a research group in Washington, noted that Griner was sentenced not to a prison but to a penal colony, which tends to mean a more remote location — many are in Siberia — and harsher conditions.

“She’s probably going to go to a penal colony that’s in the middle of Russia where she won’t know anybody,” he added. “They won’t be able to come and visit. Penal colonies can sometimes be very severe. It will be a tremendous test of her mental state if she ends up going to a penal colony.”

The United States has few options, he said. “It will just depend on the Russians and how fast they want to make a deal.”

Fellow basketball players, male and female, and basketball executives took to social media to voice support for Griner and grief at the verdict. Griner’s team, the Phoenix Mercury, said in a statement: “We remain heartbroken for her, as we have every day for nearly six months. We remain grateful to and confident in the public servants working every day to return her to her family and us.”

With Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the indiscriminate destruction it has caused, relations between Washington and Moscow are more confrontational and bitter than they have been in decades. The United States has rallied the West to send arms and other aid to Ukraine, and to punish Moscow with economic sanctions, looking for opportunities to ratchet up the pressure.

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The two sides have made prisoner exchanges before, most recently in April, when Russia released Trevor Reed, an American held on what his family said was a bogus assault charge, in return for a Russian pilot convicted in the United States of cocaine trafficking charges. But rarely have proposed swaps come amid such tension, or involved anyone as prominent as Griner.

In a sign of how high the stakes are for Washington, Griner’s fate was among the topics discussed last Friday by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, in their first direct conversation since before the invasion.

The Biden administration has offered to trade Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year sentence for a 2011 conviction on a federal charge of conspiring to sell weapons to people posing as terrorists intent on killing Americans. Whelan, detained in Russia since 2018, was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years.

Russia made an unspecified “bad faith” counteroffer, the White House said Monday, which U.S. officials said they did not consider serious.

John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council, told reporters Thursday, “I don’t think it would be helpful to Brittney or to Paul for us to talk more publicly about where we are in the talks and what the president might or might not be willing to do.”

“Conversations are ongoing at various levels,” he added.

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If Biden sticks to his initial offer, he could face accusations of not doing enough.

Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, and other supporters have mounted an effective public campaign to pressure the president to win her release. Supporters worry about her treatment in a country where anti-American and anti-gay vitriol are deeply embedded in popular views and official propaganda. Images of a grim-faced Griner being led, handcuffed, in and out of court, towering over her armed guards, have become commonplace in U.S. and international media.

The administration could make a more attractive offer, but U.S. officials already worry that deals for prisoners could encourage hostile foreign governments to detain Americans on trumped-up charges in exchange for concessions like freeing their own wrongdoers. Some Republicans have already complained that Biden’s existing offer creates such an incentive.

A 6-foot-9 center, Griner won a college national championship with Baylor in 2012, a WNBA championship with the Mercury in 2014, Olympic gold medals with the U.S. team at the 2016 and 2020 games, and four EuroLeague championships with the Russian team UMMC Yekaterinburg. Like many players in the WNBA, where salaries are much lower than in the NBA, Griner — who also played one season for a professional team in China — has played overseas to supplement her income.

Griner has resumed practicing basketball, having also been allowed to play during her detention in Russia, though it didn't feel right at the time.

Title:

Content: Brittney Griner’s Wife, Cherelle, Makes First Social Media Post Since WNBA Star’s Return

by Jonathan Howard

Brittney Griner is home and her wife Cherelle is relieved to have her back. She had a lot of people to thank as she broke her silence online. On Monday, Cherelle made her first social media post since Griner returned to the United States. This is an emotional time for the family.

As Brittney Griner has settled back into her life here in the states, Cherelle was thanking all of the people that helped make it possible. Griner was held in Russia for months for possessing vape pen cartridges. When an agreement on her release was made, she had been living at a Russian penal colony.

On Instagram, Cherelle was thankful for a lot of folks.

“Yesterday my heart was made whole thanks to the collective efforts of MANY!” she wrote. “I’m humbled by their hearts. To care for another, a stranger to some, a friend to some – is humanity in its purest form! As BG and I start our journey to heal our minds, bodies, and spirits – I wanted to personally say thank you to some of the hands; seen and unseen, that helped make it possible for me to see my wife again!”

In her post, she thanked the Biden Administration as well as various members of congress. While thanking all those involved, Cherelle also thanked Paul Whelan’s family.

“I appreciate each and every one of you – Let’s continue to use our hands, voices, platforms, and resources to bring Paul and all Americans home. All families deserve to be whole!” the post ended.

Brittney Griner Returns to Basketball Workouts

While Brittney Griner is a lot of things, she is a basketball player. So, she’s already back to practicing and the WNBA forward has still got it. During her detainment and imprisonment in Russia, Griner was offered the chance to practice playing basketball. However, given her situation, it didn’t feel right.

ESPN reported that Griner had a light workout and was able to dunk a basketball. She has not made a decision on when or if she will return to basketball as a professional. After the 10 months that she has been through, it is no surprise that she is taking time to make this decision.

The entire basketball world is behind Brittney Griner. She has had a lot of support from the NBA and WNBA. When it comes time to make that decision, she will make it. Until then, it’s just about getting back to her normal life.

Outsider.com

The basketball world is behind Brittney Griner with support from the NBA and WNBA.

Cherelle Griner thanked the Biden Administration and Congress for their efforts in bringing Brittney home.

The US government supported Brittney Griner after her release, with the White House calling her an "inspiration" to the LGBT community.

Title:

Content: Commentary

Press Secretary Touts Griner as 'Inspiration' to LGBT While Downplaying the Abandonment of Marine Veteran

Well, President Joe Biden has traded “the Merchant of Death” to Russia for a basketball player with a checkered past, all while leaving a former Marine to rot in prison.

But don’t worry, because White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has reassured us that it’s entirely worth it because the basketball player also is a hero to the LGBT community.

Yup, this is really where we’re at.

ICYMI, the now-former Russian prisoner is Brittney Griner, a 32-year-old WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist who was arrested in February in Russia on drug charges.

Griner arrived back in the United States — in San Antonio — early Friday after the Biden administration brokered a deal with the Russian government to trade her for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Trending:
Biden Gets Snubbed by Key Democrat Amid Speculation of a Party Switch

Meanwhile, Paul Whelan, a security executive from Michigan who was arrested in 2018 and convicted in 2020 on espionage charges that he and the U.S. say are baseless, remains in prison in Russia. He received a 16-year sentence.

So not only was Griner traded for an incredibly dangerous U.S. prisoner, but the Biden administration got her freed before Whelan despite supposedly trying for his release for much longer.

According to NBC News, the Biden admin was offered either Griner or no one in exchange for Bout. The outlet also said Whelan is being treated differently by the Russians because he was convicted of espionage, which is what Jean-Pierre told reporters when pressed about the trade.

“The choice was bring Brittney home or no one. The president will never stop working to secure Paul Whelan’s release,” she said during a press briefing.

“On a personal note,” she added, “Brittney is an important role model, an inspiration to millions of Americans, particularly the LGBTQI+ Americans and women of color.”

Jean-Pierre indeed is an authority on LGBT women of color, as she is the first openly gay and non-white White House press secretary, something one imagines she holds dear because she’s brought little else to the briefing room since taking over for Jen Psaki in May.

Griner, meanwhile, clearly is Jean-Pierre’s idea of American heroism — the press secretary also described the basketball player, who pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges in the United States in 2015 — as representing “the best of America.”

Related:
Watch: Biden Won't Even Look at Reporters While They Try to Ask Him Questions

Whelan’s family members, who NBC reported were warned ahead of time that he would not be released in the one-on-one trade, were clear they did not hold the government’s failure to release their loved one against Griner.

“It is so important to me that it is clear that we do not begrudge Ms. Griner her freedom,” Whelan’s brother, David Whelan, told NBC. “As I have often remarked, Brittney’s and Paul’s cases were never really intertwined. It has always been a strong possibility that one might be freed without the other.”

Whelan himself was incredibly gracious about Griner’s release, emphasizing that it was better that her trade happen than “waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen.”

He is a credit to the military he served in, a military that seems to be consistently disgraced by our current administration.

Whelan’s Russian lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, also made the  interesting and chivalrous comment that it was “more humane” to release Griner because she is a woman and Olympic champion, while his client has been in the military, so therefore it would be “easier for him to be in custody.”

(Indeed, it reportedly was difficult for the 6-foot-9 Griner in the Russian prison, although her attorneys said this was due to her height.)

Let’s be real — it’s no wonder that Russia offered Griner or no one.

This couldn’t have been more perfectly designed by Russia to make the United States look absurdly weak on the world stage, and you cannot ignore the pressing question as to whether Griner’s release  actually was worth the trade of Bout, the brutal arms dealer.

In the middle of his country’s war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin trades a dangerous arms dealer for a basketball player, and the best Jean-Pierre can say is that Griner is an inspiration to the LGBT community?

Don’t get me wrong — I think it’s likely that Griner was imprisoned on trumped-up political charges, as she foolishly broke Russian law, and I don’t take her imprisonment lightly. I think it is a fine man who will celebrate the release of a female civilian from prison over himself.

Did Biden win the Griner trade?

But I don’t take his imprisonment lightly, either, nor the significance of my nation’s posture as it contrasts with the Russian regime in such a volatile juncture of world history.

Just as Russia’s testosterone-soaked military recruitment ads make a humiliating mess of our own “woke” recruitment strategy, furnishing a seriously bad dude in exchange for a woman whose best contribution to our country is playing basketball professionally and being a lesbian tells you everything you need to know about how Biden is making our country look to the world.

I can’t imagine the disgrace felt by Whelan and thousands of other heroes like him who signed up to protect our country and liberty worldwide but are being left to rot in Russian prisons so the president can increase his woke points.

This is what our country’s leaders now value. Sexual identity trumps not only national pride, but international security.

What a disgrace.

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Isa grew up in San Francisco, where she was briefly a far-left socialist before finding Jesus and her husband in Hawaii. She now homeschools their two boys and freelances in the Ozarks.
Isa grew up in San Francisco, where she was briefly a far-left socialist before finding Jesus and her husband in Hawaii. She now homeschools their two boys and freelances in the Ozarks.

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Griner was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center for medical treatment and mental health evaluations.


The Russian government has taken steps to protect the language from excessive saturation with borrowings, particularly from English, by signing a law on mandatory observance of the norms of the modern Russian language when using it as a state language.

This law aims to minimize the use of foreign words in official documents and public speeches, with officials encouraged to avoid anglicisms and other borrowings in their speech.

In Taiwan, the government's bilingual policy has been criticized for promoting English at the expense of native languages, leading to language inequality and language loss.

The Taiwanese government's promotion of Mandarin has resulted in the decline of indigenous languages, with at least 10 out of 26 languages having died and four being in danger.

To promote native language usage, it is essential to cultivate a positive language attitude, which determines the vitality of a language.

The Russian government has established the Russian Language Institute, which is responsible for monitoring and regulating the use of foreign words in the Russian language, particularly from English.

In Russia, the Federal Law on the State Language of the Russian Federation prohibits the use of foreign words when there are equivalent Russian words, and violators can face fines.

The Taiwanese government has set up the Ministry of Education's Language Purification Committee, which aims to promote the use of pure Mandarin Chinese and reduce the influence of English and other foreign languages.

Mauritania has established the Institut Supérieur des Études et de Recherches Islamiques, which is responsible for promoting the use of Arabic and regulating the use of foreign languages, including French and English.

The Mauritanian government has also enacted the Law on the Promotion of the Arabic Language, which requires the use of Arabic in official documents, education, and media, and prohibits the use of foreign languages in certain contexts.

Several countries have implemented language purification policies to promote the use of native languages and reduce the influence of foreign loanwords, particularly from English.

Empirical studies have shown that language purification policies can be effective in promoting native language usage and reducing foreign loanwords in some countries, but their impact varies depending on the context and implementation.

The consequences for individuals or organizations that fail to comply with language purification policies can range from fines to legal action, depending on the country and its specific regulations.

In France, for example, the use of English words in advertising or product labeling can result in fines of up to €1,500 for individuals and €7,500 for companies.

The effectiveness of language purification policies in promoting native language usage and reducing foreign loanwords depends on a range of factors, including the social and cultural context, the level of government support, and the availability of resources and infrastructure.

Overall, language purification policies can have significant effects on linguistic diversity and language use in multilingual countries, and it is essential to weigh the potential benefits against the potential unintended consequences.

The Russian government has taken steps to protect the language from excessive saturation with borrowings, particularly from English, by signing a law on mandatory observance of the norms of the modern Russian language when using it as a state language.

Title:

Content: In Russia, they are determined to protect the language from excessive saturation with borrowings
The Russian language is one of the most popular in Eurasia, and attempts to abolish our culture have failed.
© Video: TRK "Zvezda" © Photo: TRK "Zvezda"
Read us on:
Store, Department, Home and other foreign words in the names of shops, cafes and restaurants in Krasnodar soon will not be.
The Cuban capital decided to abandon all foreign names.
The Cuban authorities obliged entrepreneurs to translate business into Russian.
“A sign in a foreign language or using transliteration or a sign in Russian has a big difference.
In part of the fact that 100% of our population can read, understand the sign in Russian.
And many, by ignorance and age, do not even understand what is written on these signs, ” said the chief architect of Krasnodar Artem Salamatin.
So far, the business has been given time until September 1.
But many entrepreneurs are ready to change now.
“Everything will be in Russian.
We will translate the site into Russian.
We'll change everything.
With pleasure, ” entrepreneur Hovhannes Hovhannisyan shared.
Words borrowed from foreign languages became an integral part of Russian many centuries ago.
Massive in our speech, they appeared in different iconic historical periods.
For example, the Mongol invasion.
And after the Patriotic War of 1812 - there were a lot of gallicisms, that is, French words.
Now in conversations predominate borrowing from English.
“We began to use foreign words very actively in areas where such activity had not been observed before.
First of all, it is the public sphere.
Social sphere.
Where actually came a lot of foreign words ”, – said the Chairman of the Association of teachers of literature and Russian language Lyudmila Dudova.
Russia is now determined to protect the language from excessive saturation with borrowings.
President Vladimir Putin recently signed a law “on mandatory observance of the norms of the modern Russian language when using it as a state language. ”
What specific rules are we talking about?
It's not clear yet.
They are compiled by a special government commission.
“The normative dictionary of the Russian language will be a single consistent comprehensive publication, which will be formed on the basis of dictionaries of the Russian language.
Interpretive, spelling, ” explained Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Tatiana Vasilyeva.
Thus, foreign words should disappear as much as possible from all official documents.
In addition, officials should not use anglicisms and other borrowings during public speeches and generally avoid them in their speech.
“There are so many wonderful and beautiful words in the Russian language.
But why then instead of the word mentor we say coach.
Well, it doesn't sound.
It seems to me that we need to get rid of such words that are imposed, ” said Lyudmila Skakovskaya, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture.
This law, according to officials, should protect the Russian language from attacks from abroad, where they have long been trying to abolish all Russian.
But now these sentiments have intensified even more.
The Kiev regime has long declared war on our culture and heritage.
Throughout the country, the monument to Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin is being demolished, because it is he who is considered the creator of the modern literary Russian language.
And it was the language issue that became one of the main reasons for the bloody confrontation in the East of Ukraine in 2014.
Residents of Donbass then did not agree with the nationalists, they did not refuse the Russian language.
“They use the term underdogs.
All these years, when the Maidan happened, they etched Russian in the Donbass, for them it is a symbol of communication.
The Russian world is hysterical.
What connects the Russian world?
The Russian language, ” said political scientist Yuri Svetov.
The fact that our language and culture need protection is also said by the leaders of other neighboring states.
During the autumn meeting of the heads of the CIS countries in Astana, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called on his colleagues to create an organization for the protection of the Russian language.
“Our idea is to create an international organization in the image and likeness of the UN.
Using the positive experience of Francophonie.
The headquarters of which is located in Paris, ” said President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Rossotrudnichestvo recently conducted its own study abroad, which showed that openly Russophobic sentiments are present only among politicians.
But ordinary people continue to willingly learn our language and culture.
According to the United Nations, Russian is spoken by 258 million people worldwide.
It is one of the most popular in Eurasia, and attempts to abolish our culture have failed.
Abroad, Dostoevsky, Pushkin and other Russian classics are also read.
Expert opinion and analytics
Read more
read below the following news

Title:

Content: 22 February 2023, 17: 37
The Federation Council approved the law on the prohibition of the use of foreign words at the state level
Read 360tv in
The Federation Council approved a law implying the inadmissibility of the use of foreign words at the state level.
The exception will be those words that have no analogues in the Russian language and which at the same time are contained in normative dictionaries.
“When using the Russian language as the state language of the Russian Federation, the use of words and expressions that do not meet the standards of the modern Russian literary language (including obscene language) is not allowed, ” the law states.
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The norms are understood as language tools and rules for their use, reflected in normative dictionaries and reference books.
The government on the basis of proposals of the Commission will approve the list of regulatory dictionaries and requirements for them.
It is also understood that they will reflect a list of foreign words, which are acceptable due to the lack of analogues.
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The composition and procedure of the government commission will also be approved by the Cabinet.
According to the law, the state language of the Russian Federation must be used in official relations and official correspondence of all organizations, both with Russians and with foreign citizens.
In addition, the addresses of senders and recipients of telegrams, parcels, postal orders within Russia, information for consumers of goods and services, and so on should be drawn up in the state language.
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This law aims to minimize the use of foreign words in official documents and public speeches, with officials encouraged to avoid anglicisms and other borrowings in their speech.

In Taiwan, the government's bilingual policy has been criticized for promoting English at the expense of native languages, leading to language inequality and language loss.

Title:

Content: Chen Po-wei insisted on using the "mother tongue" in the Legislative Yuan to question Minister of Defense Qiu Kuo-cheng, who believed that language is a tool of communication, and that communication is more efficient if the Mandarin language is used during questioning.
Chen Po-wei countered with "Duck Ba".
On the whole, however, Chen ’ s performance seems to have hit the nail mark this time, partly because the issue he is asking is not related to the local language, but rather the issue of defense diplomacy, which is not easy to express in the mother tongue.
In addition, at a time when the removal of Q is boiling over, Chen Po-wei chose to make a big move to ask questions in Hokkien before he was removed, which inevitably makes people feel that he is holding up the basic routine by playing a calculated role in intensifying the antagonism between the linguistic groups.
Even though it has been nearly two weeks since the end of the incident, the discussion is mostly about the pros and cons of the pan-political saliva attack and defense, the issue of Taiwan's language ecology is rarely addressed.
There is a historical background to the sensitivity of language in Taiwan. In 1937, during the Japanese occupation period, Japan promoted the Imperial Nationalization Movement and implemented the "National Language Movement" (in this case, the national language refers to Japanese), which prohibited the use of Taiwanese mother tongue and Chinese.
In order to eliminate Japan's influence in Taiwan, the Nationalist government began to vigorously promote the "Mandarin Movement" (Peking dialect) around 1956, and it was not abolished until 1987 after the lifting of martial law.
More than 30 years of language policy, resulting in language inequality and language loss.
To date, at least 10 of the 26 indigenous languages have died and four are in danger. In addition, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) assessment, Taiwanese Hokkien is a “definitely endangered ” language, while Hakka has entered the stage of“ seriously endangered ”.
If Mandarin had not been established as an official language at that time, would Taiwan ’ s diverse dialects have developed in a balanced way?
The answer is “not necessarily. ”
Language is not only a tool of communication, it is also a carrier of culture, representing the culture, historical memory and ethnic identity of the people who use the language.
Therefore, even if there is no language policy involved, when two or more languages meet, it is inevitable that political power will be strong.
Power competition between ethnic groups grows, which in turn affects the language and natural ecology.
For example, the so-called national melting pot, respect for multicultural America, although there is no political force to set the official language, but as everyone knows, English is the high-level powerful language of the United States.
In fact, in the United States, the phenomenon of "double language" (Diglossia) is obvious, black English (AAVE), Hispanic English (Chicano English), etc., is generally regarded as a low-level language, representing low education, informal language, or low social class language.
According to various studies, in the United States, those who speak a recognized ethnic or regional dialect of English have lower wages and employment rates than those who speak mainstream English.
So, if you set multiple languages as official languages, can you solve the problem of double language inequality? The answer is still “not necessarily ”.
In order to escape the influence of Spanish colonization, the Bolivian Constitution stipulates that the languages of all ethnic groups are official languages, and a total of 36 official languages are recognized, making it the country with the largest number of official languages in the world.
Under the country ’ s 1994 education reform program, schools were required to teach these 36 official languages.
However, the reality is difficult to do, Spanish is still the most powerful language in Bolivia, and many ethnic groups are still regarded as poor, low education, and low social class identity.
Being able to speak high-level Spanish is a lifeline for the underprivileged, who often disguise their ethnic identity to work in cities, so that even though many ethnic groups have been promoted to official languages, the problem of extinction has not been improved.
If setting the official language and language bullying are not necessarily directly related, how can the phenomenon of high-level and low-level double language in Taiwan be improved? Some reflections are as follows:
1. Language policy must be multilingual.
Any language policy needs to learn from history through careful planning and matching of experts and scholars to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
Because resources and human learning power are limited, when one language is blessed, it means that other languages may be crowded out.
Although the government is actively promoting the bilingual policy by 2030, it is fully committed to promoting English. Although it is well-intentioned, many linguists have solemnly warned about the dangers of promoting English.
For example, Anne Pakir refers to English as the “killer language ”, while John M. Swales compares it to Tyrannosaurus because it is too powerful to destroy any weak language that coexists with it.
Once the government smashes into a large amount of resources, if there are no good supporting measures, I am afraid it will become the current disaster of Taiwan's language ecology.
2. Strengthen the "language attitude" cultivation.
At present, the government's bilingual policy is extremely narrow, and almost all of them are aimed at strengthening English skills and improving English proficiency.
Very little is known about the "language attitude".
However, the attitude of the language user determines the vitality of the language.
In Hebrew, for example, its revival illustrates the importance of language attitudes.
The revival of the Hebrew language in just 25 years, more than two thousand years after its death, created an unprecedented miracle in the history of the language ’ s revival, and this dramatic miracle was the result of the Jewish nation ’ s strong nation-building, which led to an attitude of allegiance and glory to the Hebrew language that succeeded in bringing it back to life.
In other words, the attitude of the language user is the key factor in determining the vitality of the language.
Taiwanese people generally have a foreign mentality, value English, ignore the mother tongue, such a sense of linguistic inferiority, it is easy to speed up the loss of minority mother tongue after the promotion of bilingual policy.
In addition, if the status of the local language between the declining attitude, with the political parties in turn to promote localization, the Fukien language has become a label of love for Taiwan, the sword of transformation and justice, and the soft spot of political enemies, the Fukien language has become a tool of political struggle.
Perhaps because of this, Chen Po-wei will choose to deliberately use the Minnan language to single out the foreign provincial defense minister before the removal case, and play this big show of love for his mother tongue and Taiwan.
The author believes that positive "language attitude" education, in addition to strengthening the ethnic group's sense of pride and centripetal force for their mother tongue, also includes the inclusiveness of other languages.
If we oppose the practice of the Chinese language to suppress the native language, then we should not now politically manipulate the native language and maliciously create language conflicts and ethnic conflicts.
The means of retribution for language hegemony will not only not promote ethnic integration, but will only deepen ethnic hatred and division.
If Taiwan wants to start from the wrong language policy of the past, it should understand the past language history, reflect on learning from history, and not blindly promote language policy, but also pay attention to the next generation of language attitude education, families and schools to help children understand the value of mother tongue, respect different mother tongue use groups, in order to really promote a pluralistic and multilingual society.
(The author is an associate professor of English at National Chengchi University)
※ The above statements do not represent the position of Wangzhong Media Group ※
# Language # Native # English # Official Language # Attitude

The Taiwanese government's promotion of Mandarin has resulted in the decline of indigenous languages, with at least 10 out of 26 languages having died and four being in danger.

To promote native language usage, it is essential to cultivate a positive language attitude, which determines the vitality of a language.

The Russian government has established the Russian Language Institute, which is responsible for monitoring and regulating the use of foreign words in the Russian language, particularly from English.

In Russia, the Federal Law on the State Language of the Russian Federation prohibits the use of foreign words when there are equivalent Russian words, and violators can face fines.

The Taiwanese government has set up the Ministry of Education's Language Purification Committee, which aims to promote the use of pure Mandarin Chinese and reduce the influence of English and other foreign languages.

Mauritania has established the Institut Supérieur des Études et de Recherches Islamiques, which is responsible for promoting the use of Arabic and regulating the use of foreign languages, including French and English.

The Mauritanian government has also enacted the Law on the Promotion of the Arabic Language, which requires the use of Arabic in official documents, education, and media, and prohibits the use of foreign languages in certain contexts.

Several countries have implemented language purification policies to promote the use of native languages and reduce the influence of foreign loanwords, particularly from English.

Empirical studies have shown that language purification policies can be effective in promoting native language usage and reducing foreign loanwords in some countries, but their impact varies depending on the context and implementation.

The consequences for individuals or organizations that fail to comply with language purification policies can range from fines to legal action, depending on the country and its specific regulations.

In France, for example, the use of English words in advertising or product labeling can result in fines of up to €1,500 for individuals and €7,500 for companies.

The effectiveness of language purification policies in promoting native language usage and reducing foreign loanwords depends on a range of factors, including the social and cultural context, the level of government support, and the availability of resources and infrastructure.

Title:

Content: city news Yelets, news Yelets, Yelets news, Yelets newspaper, Red banner
Better than any passport.
0 0
The Russian government has submitted to the state Duma a bill to protect the Russian language from excessive use of foreign words.
The document implies control over the observance by officials and citizens of the norms of the Russian literary language and the inadmissibility of the use of foreign words, with the exception of those that do not have common analogues in the Russian language.
"Wet feet"
by "toptalische"
Fighters for the purity of the native language waited, because the discussion about it among linguists, writers, scientists goes on constantly, then quiet, then flaring up with renewed vigor.
The initiative of the Government of Russia, which decided to wedge itself into the disputes of professionals, is quite understandable and understandable.
Today, when the United States and the entire Western world are in a rush to destroy, eradicate, wipe out all Russian, the frequent use of Anglicisms in everyday life is at least unpatriotic.
In fairness, it should be noted that borrowing from other languages is a constant process.
Lenin also proposed "to declare war on the use of foreign words unnecessarily", and the intricacies of relations and mutual accusations of Slavophiles and Westerners entered the textbooks, as well as the textbook proposals to replace other people's "galoshes" with their "wet feet", and "sidewalks" - with "toptalisches".
In the 1940s, a new wave: the struggle against cosmopolitanism suggested “for everything Russian against foreign ”, including in the language.
A printer is a printer?
Meanwhile, all – both supporters and opponents – agree that there are concepts in their native language that came after the phenomena, realities created in other countries, and therefore the words denoting them, well, not ours, but they can not do without them.
A striking example is the computer, IT technologies and everything related to them.
The word “printer ” cannot be replaced by a Russian translation from English, since“ printer ” does not mean a device for printing, but a person engaged in this process.
By the way, this phenomenon is not new: even under Peter I, who “cut through the window to Europe ”, dozens of Dutch and German words for technologies and mechanisms poured into Russia.
And in opera, many terms are borrowed from Italian and have long been part of the Russian language.
And we calmly use such words as “federation ”,“ sphere ”, “national ”,“ commission ” and many others that came from foreign languages, but are firmly entrenched in our own.
How to be
in one bow
Meanwhile, one cannot but agree with the authors of the bill: recently, the speech of deputies of different ranks, officials, political and economic experts, heads of federal and regional, and sometimes local authorities is simply replete with foreign words that have simple and understandable analogues in their native language.
And if we are almost reconciled with merchandisers (commodity scientists in our own way), then what do you think of the expression from the fashion world “in one bow ”?
The well-known vegetable has nothing to do with it: in English look - look, therefore, in Russian it is an image, appearance, look, etc. In texts related to business, "marketplace" (literally from the English place of trade), as well as "startup" (start, start, take the first steps) or "webinar" (training video conference live).
In the field of education, they like to talk about “bullying prevention ”: this word means ridicule, bullying of children at school by peers.
Increasingly, “campus ” sounds, while the translation from Latin is a familiar campus for many of us, or“ coach ” instead of the usual “coach ”,“ mentor ”.
Abilympics
with WorldSkills
I will also swing at my favorite “quest ” recently: again with the English“ game, search ”.
I do not like the sequestered budget, because it is “cut ”, but transparent is more to my liking, because it is“ open ”, “transparent ”.
And who will prove to me that “exchange of practices ” is better than the usual“ exchange of experience ”?
Or for days on TV reported about the participation of Russians in the championship "Abilympics".
You will break the language by pronouncing, although this is only a competition in professional skills among the disabled, in another way they are also called the “Olympics of opportunities ”.
From the same series, the widely distributed “WorldSkills ” (WorldSkills) is also a competition, but students studying a particular profession.
We have such competitions took place in the times of the USSR, then they were safely forgotten, and now they are back again, only in a Western manner.
And here is another illustrative example: the all-Russian social project “Agrofoodsharing ”.
We divide abracadabra into parts: agro - of course, something related to agriculture.
In English, food – food, share – share.
As a result, we get a movement of agricultural producers who want to share with other people the surplus of their crops.
The idea, of course, is good, right, but why break the language?
And finally from the sore: "solving cases." Brilliant!
In English, the word “case ” has two meanings: a briefcase, a suitcase and the second – circumstances.
Therefore, in Russian literally "the decision of circumstances" or, as the know-it-all Internet interprets, "the study of the situation and the choice of a suitable solution."
They will leave themselves
on your own?
Most likely, the desire to cleanse the language by introducing a law at the state level is an attempt to distance oneself from the West, its influence, to isolate oneself from someone else ’ s and alien mentality, lifestyle and dubious values.
However, it is not very clear what it will look like in practice: will there be lists of prohibited words and expressions or just recommendations, and addressed to high-ranking officials and other “persons in the TV ” – after all, it is with their filing that all sorts of newfangled borrowings from foreign languages often go“ to people ”.
However, a few decades ago, our teachers at the Yelets Pedagogical Institute hammered us, students, that the language is a self-cleaning system, and all harmful, fake after a while will simply disappear.
It has always been so, and I want to believe it will be so.
KSTATI:
I assume that all borrowings are from our haste, eternal saving of time even on pronunciation and writing of words.
We usually write in sms a short, indifferent “OK ”.
While in the native language for this almost a dozen words: “good ”,“ okay ”, “agree ”,“ give ”, “let ”,“ good ”, etc. No wonder there is a catch phrase: “Speech is better than any passport ”...
Tatyana SHCHERBATYKH
VRF News

Overall, language purification policies can have significant effects on linguistic diversity and language use in multilingual countries, and it is essential to weigh the potential benefits against the potential unintended consequences.


Russia has passed a law to protect the language from excessive English borrowings.

The law aims to minimize foreign words in official documents and public speeches.

Russia's Federal Law prohibits using foreign words when Russian equivalents exist, with violators facing fines.

The Russian government has established the Russian Language Institute to monitor and regulate foreign words, especially from English.

Taiwan's bilingual policy has been criticized for promoting English over native languages, causing language inequality and loss.

The Taiwanese government's promotion of Mandarin has led to the decline of indigenous languages, with at least 10 extinct and four endangered.

Cultivating a positive language attitude is essential to promote native language usage and determine its vitality.

The Taiwanese government has established a committee to promote pure Mandarin Chinese and reduce foreign language influence.

Mauritania has established the Institut Supérieur des Études et de Recherches Islamiques to promote Arabic and regulate foreign languages like French and English.

Mauritania's government has enacted a law requiring Arabic in official documents, education, and media, and restricting foreign languages.

Countries have implemented language purification policies to reduce foreign loanwords, especially from English.

In France, using English in advertising or labeling can result in fines of up to €1,500 for individuals and €7,500 for companies.

The effectiveness of language purification policies depends on factors like social context, government support, and available resources.

Language purification policies can significantly impact linguistic diversity in multilingual countries, requiring careful consideration of their potential benefits and unintended consequences.

Russia has passed a law to protect the language from excessive English borrowings.

Title:

Content: In Russia, they are determined to protect the language from excessive saturation with borrowings
The Russian language is one of the most popular in Eurasia, and attempts to abolish our culture have failed.
© Video: TRK "Zvezda" © Photo: TRK "Zvezda"
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Store, Department, Home and other foreign words in the names of shops, cafes and restaurants in Krasnodar soon will not be.
The Cuban capital decided to abandon all foreign names.
The Cuban authorities obliged entrepreneurs to translate business into Russian.
“A sign in a foreign language or using transliteration or a sign in Russian has a big difference.
In part of the fact that 100% of our population can read, understand the sign in Russian.
And many, by ignorance and age, do not even understand what is written on these signs, ” said the chief architect of Krasnodar Artem Salamatin.
So far, the business has been given time until September 1.
But many entrepreneurs are ready to change now.
“Everything will be in Russian.
We will translate the site into Russian.
We'll change everything.
With pleasure, ” entrepreneur Hovhannes Hovhannisyan shared.
Words borrowed from foreign languages became an integral part of Russian many centuries ago.
Massive in our speech, they appeared in different iconic historical periods.
For example, the Mongol invasion.
And after the Patriotic War of 1812 - there were a lot of gallicisms, that is, French words.
Now in conversations predominate borrowing from English.
“We began to use foreign words very actively in areas where such activity had not been observed before.
First of all, it is the public sphere.
Social sphere.
Where actually came a lot of foreign words ”, – said the Chairman of the Association of teachers of literature and Russian language Lyudmila Dudova.
Russia is now determined to protect the language from excessive saturation with borrowings.
President Vladimir Putin recently signed a law “on mandatory observance of the norms of the modern Russian language when using it as a state language. ”
What specific rules are we talking about?
It's not clear yet.
They are compiled by a special government commission.
“The normative dictionary of the Russian language will be a single consistent comprehensive publication, which will be formed on the basis of dictionaries of the Russian language.
Interpretive, spelling, ” explained Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Tatiana Vasilyeva.
Thus, foreign words should disappear as much as possible from all official documents.
In addition, officials should not use anglicisms and other borrowings during public speeches and generally avoid them in their speech.
“There are so many wonderful and beautiful words in the Russian language.
But why then instead of the word mentor we say coach.
Well, it doesn't sound.
It seems to me that we need to get rid of such words that are imposed, ” said Lyudmila Skakovskaya, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture.
This law, according to officials, should protect the Russian language from attacks from abroad, where they have long been trying to abolish all Russian.
But now these sentiments have intensified even more.
The Kiev regime has long declared war on our culture and heritage.
Throughout the country, the monument to Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin is being demolished, because it is he who is considered the creator of the modern literary Russian language.
And it was the language issue that became one of the main reasons for the bloody confrontation in the East of Ukraine in 2014.
Residents of Donbass then did not agree with the nationalists, they did not refuse the Russian language.
“They use the term underdogs.
All these years, when the Maidan happened, they etched Russian in the Donbass, for them it is a symbol of communication.
The Russian world is hysterical.
What connects the Russian world?
The Russian language, ” said political scientist Yuri Svetov.
The fact that our language and culture need protection is also said by the leaders of other neighboring states.
During the autumn meeting of the heads of the CIS countries in Astana, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called on his colleagues to create an organization for the protection of the Russian language.
“Our idea is to create an international organization in the image and likeness of the UN.
Using the positive experience of Francophonie.
The headquarters of which is located in Paris, ” said President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Rossotrudnichestvo recently conducted its own study abroad, which showed that openly Russophobic sentiments are present only among politicians.
But ordinary people continue to willingly learn our language and culture.
According to the United Nations, Russian is spoken by 258 million people worldwide.
It is one of the most popular in Eurasia, and attempts to abolish our culture have failed.
Abroad, Dostoevsky, Pushkin and other Russian classics are also read.
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Title:

Content: 22 February 2023, 17: 37
The Federation Council approved the law on the prohibition of the use of foreign words at the state level
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The Federation Council approved a law implying the inadmissibility of the use of foreign words at the state level.
The exception will be those words that have no analogues in the Russian language and which at the same time are contained in normative dictionaries.
“When using the Russian language as the state language of the Russian Federation, the use of words and expressions that do not meet the standards of the modern Russian literary language (including obscene language) is not allowed, ” the law states.
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The norms are understood as language tools and rules for their use, reflected in normative dictionaries and reference books.
The government on the basis of proposals of the Commission will approve the list of regulatory dictionaries and requirements for them.
It is also understood that they will reflect a list of foreign words, which are acceptable due to the lack of analogues.
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The composition and procedure of the government commission will also be approved by the Cabinet.
According to the law, the state language of the Russian Federation must be used in official relations and official correspondence of all organizations, both with Russians and with foreign citizens.
In addition, the addresses of senders and recipients of telegrams, parcels, postal orders within Russia, information for consumers of goods and services, and so on should be drawn up in the state language.
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The law aims to minimize foreign words in official documents and public speeches.

Russia's Federal Law prohibits using foreign words when Russian equivalents exist, with violators facing fines.

The Russian government has established the Russian Language Institute to monitor and regulate foreign words, especially from English.

Taiwan's bilingual policy has been criticized for promoting English over native languages, causing language inequality and loss.

Title:

Content: Chen Po-wei insisted on using the "mother tongue" in the Legislative Yuan to question Minister of Defense Qiu Kuo-cheng, who believed that language is a tool of communication, and that communication is more efficient if the Mandarin language is used during questioning.
Chen Po-wei countered with "Duck Ba".
On the whole, however, Chen ’ s performance seems to have hit the nail mark this time, partly because the issue he is asking is not related to the local language, but rather the issue of defense diplomacy, which is not easy to express in the mother tongue.
In addition, at a time when the removal of Q is boiling over, Chen Po-wei chose to make a big move to ask questions in Hokkien before he was removed, which inevitably makes people feel that he is holding up the basic routine by playing a calculated role in intensifying the antagonism between the linguistic groups.
Even though it has been nearly two weeks since the end of the incident, the discussion is mostly about the pros and cons of the pan-political saliva attack and defense, the issue of Taiwan's language ecology is rarely addressed.
There is a historical background to the sensitivity of language in Taiwan. In 1937, during the Japanese occupation period, Japan promoted the Imperial Nationalization Movement and implemented the "National Language Movement" (in this case, the national language refers to Japanese), which prohibited the use of Taiwanese mother tongue and Chinese.
In order to eliminate Japan's influence in Taiwan, the Nationalist government began to vigorously promote the "Mandarin Movement" (Peking dialect) around 1956, and it was not abolished until 1987 after the lifting of martial law.
More than 30 years of language policy, resulting in language inequality and language loss.
To date, at least 10 of the 26 indigenous languages have died and four are in danger. In addition, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) assessment, Taiwanese Hokkien is a “definitely endangered ” language, while Hakka has entered the stage of“ seriously endangered ”.
If Mandarin had not been established as an official language at that time, would Taiwan ’ s diverse dialects have developed in a balanced way?
The answer is “not necessarily. ”
Language is not only a tool of communication, it is also a carrier of culture, representing the culture, historical memory and ethnic identity of the people who use the language.
Therefore, even if there is no language policy involved, when two or more languages meet, it is inevitable that political power will be strong.
Power competition between ethnic groups grows, which in turn affects the language and natural ecology.
For example, the so-called national melting pot, respect for multicultural America, although there is no political force to set the official language, but as everyone knows, English is the high-level powerful language of the United States.
In fact, in the United States, the phenomenon of "double language" (Diglossia) is obvious, black English (AAVE), Hispanic English (Chicano English), etc., is generally regarded as a low-level language, representing low education, informal language, or low social class language.
According to various studies, in the United States, those who speak a recognized ethnic or regional dialect of English have lower wages and employment rates than those who speak mainstream English.
So, if you set multiple languages as official languages, can you solve the problem of double language inequality? The answer is still “not necessarily ”.
In order to escape the influence of Spanish colonization, the Bolivian Constitution stipulates that the languages of all ethnic groups are official languages, and a total of 36 official languages are recognized, making it the country with the largest number of official languages in the world.
Under the country ’ s 1994 education reform program, schools were required to teach these 36 official languages.
However, the reality is difficult to do, Spanish is still the most powerful language in Bolivia, and many ethnic groups are still regarded as poor, low education, and low social class identity.
Being able to speak high-level Spanish is a lifeline for the underprivileged, who often disguise their ethnic identity to work in cities, so that even though many ethnic groups have been promoted to official languages, the problem of extinction has not been improved.
If setting the official language and language bullying are not necessarily directly related, how can the phenomenon of high-level and low-level double language in Taiwan be improved? Some reflections are as follows:
1. Language policy must be multilingual.
Any language policy needs to learn from history through careful planning and matching of experts and scholars to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
Because resources and human learning power are limited, when one language is blessed, it means that other languages may be crowded out.
Although the government is actively promoting the bilingual policy by 2030, it is fully committed to promoting English. Although it is well-intentioned, many linguists have solemnly warned about the dangers of promoting English.
For example, Anne Pakir refers to English as the “killer language ”, while John M. Swales compares it to Tyrannosaurus because it is too powerful to destroy any weak language that coexists with it.
Once the government smashes into a large amount of resources, if there are no good supporting measures, I am afraid it will become the current disaster of Taiwan's language ecology.
2. Strengthen the "language attitude" cultivation.
At present, the government's bilingual policy is extremely narrow, and almost all of them are aimed at strengthening English skills and improving English proficiency.
Very little is known about the "language attitude".
However, the attitude of the language user determines the vitality of the language.
In Hebrew, for example, its revival illustrates the importance of language attitudes.
The revival of the Hebrew language in just 25 years, more than two thousand years after its death, created an unprecedented miracle in the history of the language ’ s revival, and this dramatic miracle was the result of the Jewish nation ’ s strong nation-building, which led to an attitude of allegiance and glory to the Hebrew language that succeeded in bringing it back to life.
In other words, the attitude of the language user is the key factor in determining the vitality of the language.
Taiwanese people generally have a foreign mentality, value English, ignore the mother tongue, such a sense of linguistic inferiority, it is easy to speed up the loss of minority mother tongue after the promotion of bilingual policy.
In addition, if the status of the local language between the declining attitude, with the political parties in turn to promote localization, the Fukien language has become a label of love for Taiwan, the sword of transformation and justice, and the soft spot of political enemies, the Fukien language has become a tool of political struggle.
Perhaps because of this, Chen Po-wei will choose to deliberately use the Minnan language to single out the foreign provincial defense minister before the removal case, and play this big show of love for his mother tongue and Taiwan.
The author believes that positive "language attitude" education, in addition to strengthening the ethnic group's sense of pride and centripetal force for their mother tongue, also includes the inclusiveness of other languages.
If we oppose the practice of the Chinese language to suppress the native language, then we should not now politically manipulate the native language and maliciously create language conflicts and ethnic conflicts.
The means of retribution for language hegemony will not only not promote ethnic integration, but will only deepen ethnic hatred and division.
If Taiwan wants to start from the wrong language policy of the past, it should understand the past language history, reflect on learning from history, and not blindly promote language policy, but also pay attention to the next generation of language attitude education, families and schools to help children understand the value of mother tongue, respect different mother tongue use groups, in order to really promote a pluralistic and multilingual society.
(The author is an associate professor of English at National Chengchi University)
※ The above statements do not represent the position of Wangzhong Media Group ※
# Language # Native # English # Official Language # Attitude

The Taiwanese government's promotion of Mandarin has led to the decline of indigenous languages, with at least 10 extinct and four endangered.

Cultivating a positive language attitude is essential to promote native language usage and determine its vitality.

The Taiwanese government has established a committee to promote pure Mandarin Chinese and reduce foreign language influence.

Mauritania has established the Institut Supérieur des Études et de Recherches Islamiques to promote Arabic and regulate foreign languages like French and English.

Mauritania's government has enacted a law requiring Arabic in official documents, education, and media, and restricting foreign languages.

Countries have implemented language purification policies to reduce foreign loanwords, especially from English.

In France, using English in advertising or labeling can result in fines of up to €1,500 for individuals and €7,500 for companies.

The effectiveness of language purification policies depends on factors like social context, government support, and available resources.

Title:

Content: city news Yelets, news Yelets, Yelets news, Yelets newspaper, Red banner
Better than any passport.
0 0
The Russian government has submitted to the state Duma a bill to protect the Russian language from excessive use of foreign words.
The document implies control over the observance by officials and citizens of the norms of the Russian literary language and the inadmissibility of the use of foreign words, with the exception of those that do not have common analogues in the Russian language.
"Wet feet"
by "toptalische"
Fighters for the purity of the native language waited, because the discussion about it among linguists, writers, scientists goes on constantly, then quiet, then flaring up with renewed vigor.
The initiative of the Government of Russia, which decided to wedge itself into the disputes of professionals, is quite understandable and understandable.
Today, when the United States and the entire Western world are in a rush to destroy, eradicate, wipe out all Russian, the frequent use of Anglicisms in everyday life is at least unpatriotic.
In fairness, it should be noted that borrowing from other languages is a constant process.
Lenin also proposed "to declare war on the use of foreign words unnecessarily", and the intricacies of relations and mutual accusations of Slavophiles and Westerners entered the textbooks, as well as the textbook proposals to replace other people's "galoshes" with their "wet feet", and "sidewalks" - with "toptalisches".
In the 1940s, a new wave: the struggle against cosmopolitanism suggested “for everything Russian against foreign ”, including in the language.
A printer is a printer?
Meanwhile, all – both supporters and opponents – agree that there are concepts in their native language that came after the phenomena, realities created in other countries, and therefore the words denoting them, well, not ours, but they can not do without them.
A striking example is the computer, IT technologies and everything related to them.
The word “printer ” cannot be replaced by a Russian translation from English, since“ printer ” does not mean a device for printing, but a person engaged in this process.
By the way, this phenomenon is not new: even under Peter I, who “cut through the window to Europe ”, dozens of Dutch and German words for technologies and mechanisms poured into Russia.
And in opera, many terms are borrowed from Italian and have long been part of the Russian language.
And we calmly use such words as “federation ”,“ sphere ”, “national ”,“ commission ” and many others that came from foreign languages, but are firmly entrenched in our own.
How to be
in one bow
Meanwhile, one cannot but agree with the authors of the bill: recently, the speech of deputies of different ranks, officials, political and economic experts, heads of federal and regional, and sometimes local authorities is simply replete with foreign words that have simple and understandable analogues in their native language.
And if we are almost reconciled with merchandisers (commodity scientists in our own way), then what do you think of the expression from the fashion world “in one bow ”?
The well-known vegetable has nothing to do with it: in English look - look, therefore, in Russian it is an image, appearance, look, etc. In texts related to business, "marketplace" (literally from the English place of trade), as well as "startup" (start, start, take the first steps) or "webinar" (training video conference live).
In the field of education, they like to talk about “bullying prevention ”: this word means ridicule, bullying of children at school by peers.
Increasingly, “campus ” sounds, while the translation from Latin is a familiar campus for many of us, or“ coach ” instead of the usual “coach ”,“ mentor ”.
Abilympics
with WorldSkills
I will also swing at my favorite “quest ” recently: again with the English“ game, search ”.
I do not like the sequestered budget, because it is “cut ”, but transparent is more to my liking, because it is“ open ”, “transparent ”.
And who will prove to me that “exchange of practices ” is better than the usual“ exchange of experience ”?
Or for days on TV reported about the participation of Russians in the championship "Abilympics".
You will break the language by pronouncing, although this is only a competition in professional skills among the disabled, in another way they are also called the “Olympics of opportunities ”.
From the same series, the widely distributed “WorldSkills ” (WorldSkills) is also a competition, but students studying a particular profession.
We have such competitions took place in the times of the USSR, then they were safely forgotten, and now they are back again, only in a Western manner.
And here is another illustrative example: the all-Russian social project “Agrofoodsharing ”.
We divide abracadabra into parts: agro - of course, something related to agriculture.
In English, food – food, share – share.
As a result, we get a movement of agricultural producers who want to share with other people the surplus of their crops.
The idea, of course, is good, right, but why break the language?
And finally from the sore: "solving cases." Brilliant!
In English, the word “case ” has two meanings: a briefcase, a suitcase and the second – circumstances.
Therefore, in Russian literally "the decision of circumstances" or, as the know-it-all Internet interprets, "the study of the situation and the choice of a suitable solution."
They will leave themselves
on your own?
Most likely, the desire to cleanse the language by introducing a law at the state level is an attempt to distance oneself from the West, its influence, to isolate oneself from someone else ’ s and alien mentality, lifestyle and dubious values.
However, it is not very clear what it will look like in practice: will there be lists of prohibited words and expressions or just recommendations, and addressed to high-ranking officials and other “persons in the TV ” – after all, it is with their filing that all sorts of newfangled borrowings from foreign languages often go“ to people ”.
However, a few decades ago, our teachers at the Yelets Pedagogical Institute hammered us, students, that the language is a self-cleaning system, and all harmful, fake after a while will simply disappear.
It has always been so, and I want to believe it will be so.
KSTATI:
I assume that all borrowings are from our haste, eternal saving of time even on pronunciation and writing of words.
We usually write in sms a short, indifferent “OK ”.
While in the native language for this almost a dozen words: “good ”,“ okay ”, “agree ”,“ give ”, “let ”,“ good ”, etc. No wonder there is a catch phrase: “Speech is better than any passport ”...
Tatyana SHCHERBATYKH
VRF News

Language purification policies can significantly impact linguistic diversity in multilingual countries, requiring careful consideration of their potential benefits and unintended consequences.