In a telephone interview on 4 September 1996, a professor who specializes in Ukrainian literature in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of Toronto provided the following information.

In the 1970s and 1980s in the Ukrainian Republic of the former Soviet Union, Russian was the main language used. The professor added that although he did not possess quantitative data on the degree of Russian usage, certain general statements could be made. There was social pressure to publicly converse in Russian, and two people holding a conversation in public or the workplace would probably have spoken in Russian if a third party had been able to overhear the conversation. Russian was also the language used when interacting with officialdom, even in Western Ukraine where there was a greater proportion of people whose maternal language was Ukrainian than in Eastern Ukraine. Compulsory military service was performed in the Russian language.

The professor added that the Russian language was taught in all schools in Ukraine in the 1970s and 1980s. The professor added that although Soviet legislation provided for education in the Ukrainian language, the language of instruction in the majority of schools in Ukraine in the 1970s and 1980s was Russian. In a minority of schools, the language of instruction was in Russian and Ukrainian. The professor could not provide information on whether there existed a school during the 1970s and 1980s in the Ternopil area in which the language of instruction was solely Ukrainian, nor could this information be obtained from among the other sources consulted by the DIRB.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Department of Slavic Languages and Literature, University of Toronto. 4 September 1996. Telephone interview with professor.

Unsuccessful attempts to contact other oral sources.