ZELENSKY'S CHIEF OF STAFF SPOKE RUSSIAN AND MUST PAY A FINE

KYIV, NOVEMBER 7 /SRNA/ - Ukrainian President's Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov spoke Russian in an official capacity and was required to pay a fine as a result, State Language Protection Commissioner Olena Ivanovska announced.

Ivanovska wrote on Facebook, without naming Budanov, that the person accused had admitted to the violation and would pay the fine within the prescribed deadline.

Ukraine's language law stipulates fines ranging from 3,400 to 8,500 hryvnias /75-187 US dollars/.

Budanov has not commented, but Ivanovska referred to an incident in which the chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky switched to speaking Russian.

Several hundred people staged a protest on Monday, November 2, outside a makeshift military detention facility on the outskirts of Kyiv.

They suspected that the National Guard was abusing deserters held at the facility. The incident attracted international attention.

Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating whether military personnel exceeded their authority. However, allegations that the unrest was deliberately instigated are also being examined.

Former intelligence general Budanov tried to defuse the situation, and a video shows him speaking with an injured 14-year-old boy, partly in Ukrainian and partly in Russian.

He also spoke Russian when answering a phone call from the injured boy's sister and when giving instructions.

Nevertheless, this situation was typical of Kyiv, where many people switch between the two languages in their everyday lives. Ukrainian is the language of command in the military, but many soldiers speak Russian to one another, DPA notes.