Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors star bashed online after she refused to speak Ukrainian

People's Artist of Ukraine Larysa Kadochnykova, known for her role as Marichka in the movie Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, refused to speak Ukrainian on stage during the Sergei Parajanov National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine awards ceremony. The 87-year-old actress said that she had had enough of the language of the country she lives in in the theater, so she speaks Russian outside of it.

In her defense, she said she had done a lot for Ukraine to be respected, including her language choice. The video with Larysa Kadochnykova's scandalous statement was posted on Facebook by writer and public figure Larysa Nitsoy.

The video shows the moment when journalist Ruslan Koshovenko asked the actress to speak Ukrainian off-screen. She replied to him in a rude manner that she was not going to do so. In the audience, some people expressed admiration for Kadochnykova's statement, shouted "Bravo!" and applauded.

"I speak Ukrainian only in the theater. Forgive me, but I can speak even English. Please respect me. I have done a lot for Ukraine and have never left the country. And I do plays in the theater in Ukrainian. The most important thing I wanted to say is that we must love and understand each other: Ukraine is whole. If we are at enmity and hate each other for trifles, we will die," the actress justified.

Writer Larysa Nitsoy, who published a video with Kadochnykova's statement, expressed her opinion on the celebrity's position and called her a "Ukrainophobe."

"Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors' Marichka turned out to be a Ukrainophobe in real life. She said that she had 'done enough for the country to be respected' and continued her speech in Russian. I would like to ask the winner of many awards, Larysa Kadochnykova, for which country exactly has she 'done enough'? For Russia? By dragging the 'Russian world' to Ukraine all her life and popularizing its language, which was followed by tanks? Playing roles in movies in Russian, speaking everywhere in public in Russian, communicating with everyone in Russian, going on stage to present an award in Russian, and only sometimes using Ukrainian where there is no way around the law. A good elderly person should stay at home. And if they have the strength to post public videos on YouTube or take to the stage to give a public speech, then they a responsible citizen of Ukraine who speaks Ukrainian. Or an irresponsible one," the writer said.

In the comments, Ukrainians supported Larysa and called for the actress to go perform in Moscow.

• "This is just horrible. She 'has the right to speak'. Why does she live in Ukraine? Only here is it allowed to despise the language and the country in such a way, and she dares to talk about love. Everything is clear about her. Now let her go to Moscow and speak Ukrainian on stage there."
• "For some reason, those who speak their own state language in their country do not demand 'respect'."
• "This is amazing! To climb so high thanks to a legendary Ukrainian movie and to fall harshly like this..."
• "The saddest thing is not Kadochnykova, but the applause in the audience."
• "Disgusting. Disgusting. Such a star demands respect in the language of the enemy? This is a question of the  Russification of the country you live in."

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