The Kiev office of Rossotrudnichestvo is looking for new forms of work so as not to expose its employees to danger.
About this in interview The head of Rossotrudnichestvo Eleonora Mitrofanova told Rossiyskaya Gazeta, answering the question whether there are countries in the post-Soviet space that can be considered “lost” for the promotion of Russian culture.
“We must survive and wait out the situation in Ukraine. Until the country can cope with nationalist movements. But with all the complex processes that exist there, with the alienation of everything Russian, our center in Kyiv has its own circle of friends. Many would like their children to study Russian and attend creative clubs. You can say that there is no breadth in this, that this is a kind of parochialism: folk singing, dancing, language... But in fact, cultural centers in other countries work this way.
Our employee was expelled from Ukraine because of the “Skripal case.” Although she had nothing to do with him. It was a kind of gesture. Our representative was injured – Konstantin Vorobyov, a cultural professional with excellent knowledge of foreign languages. A man with a huge circle of friends is apparently an eyesore in Kyiv. In addition, our House, which we rent for a lot of money, is located in the city center. Therefore, we are looking for new work formats. There’s no point in waiting for someone’s legs to be broken,” Mitrofanova said.
According to her, there are not many, but there are schools teaching subjects in Russian in Ukraine. At the same time, she added that it is impossible to satisfy the demand for textbooks throughout the entire territory of the former USSR.
“We supply textbooks both in the CIS and abroad. And of course, we do not fully satisfy demand. And our attempts to negotiate with large publishing houses about assistance from at least the remnants of the old parties remain unsuccessful. Probably, it’s not just the “greed” of book suppliers. If Armenia or Transnistria gladly accept Russian textbooks, then Estonia or Ukraine do not need them. There, laureates of the Pushkin Competition say, you can only use Russian manuals from under your desk, at your own peril and risk,” noted the head of Rossotrudnichest.