Nowadays, Promoting Russian Language Abroad is 'Practically Heroic,' Says Simonyan
16:42 16.10.2026 (Updated: 16:47 16.10.2026)
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"Language is the main unifying force. Language makes a human a human. Language distinguishes a human from an animal," Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Sputnik's parent media group Rossiya Segodnya, said at the Eurasia International Prize ceremony.
People who try to speak Russian, show interest in Russia, or engage with the language face serious difficulties, including criminal prosecution and threats of having their children taken away, she noted.
"But that doesn't frighten us, does it?" she asked, citing Russian classical poet Anna Akhmatova's famous line: "And we will preserve you, Russian speech, the great Russian word."
Simonyan presented the award in the "Language of the World" category to Anna Kostyukovskaya, executive director of the "Russky Glagol" (Russian Word) competition—an international literary contest for authors writing in Russian outside Russia.
People who try to speak Russian, show interest in Russia, or engage with the language face serious difficulties, including criminal prosecution and threats of having their children taken away, she noted.
"But that doesn't frighten us, does it?" she asked, citing Russian classical poet Anna Akhmatova's famous line: "And we will preserve you, Russian speech, the great Russian word."
Simonyan presented the award in the "Language of the World" category to Anna Kostyukovskaya, executive director of the "Russky Glagol" (Russian Word) competition—an international literary contest for authors writing in Russian outside Russia.
