Presidential Interethnic Relations Council member warns that Russian youths studying Elvish language poses ‘serious threat’

Andrey Khudoleev, a member of President Putin’s Interethnic Relations Council, has expressed concern about young people’s apparent interest in studying the “Elvish language,” which he described as a “serious threat” during a speaking event on Friday in Russia’s Kurgan region.

Khudoleev says more than 12,000 Russians now self-identify as Elves and study the Elvish languages constructed by English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. Khudoleev also complained that Yandex Translate works with Elvish but doesn’t support many of the languages spoken by Russia’s indigenous groups.