A Russian court fined a woman 10,000 rubles (about $125) for using a derogatory term for Ukrainians on social media — marking a rare case of prosecution for anti-Ukrainian hate speech in Russia.
The ruling comes as Russia wages war on Ukraine while state propaganda continues to use the same derogatory language the court has now outlawed. The case began with a dispute in a residential building’s group chat, where Yevgenia Zandanova from Ulan-Ude told another resident named Ishchenko — a traditionally Ukrainian surname — “You khokhly are all vile.” Linguistic experts found Zandanova’s comments to be “directed at degrading human dignity based on nationality.” She unsuccessfully appealed the ruling in Buryatia’s Supreme Court.
Journalists at Verstka note that Russian propagandists and even state officials regularly refer — without legal repercussions — to Ukrainians with the same slur.
The term khokhl (singular) is a centuries-old ethnic slur, derived from traditional Cossack hairstyles, and comparable to racial epithets used against other ethnic groups.