“Safe Spaces” amidst War: Ideologies in Ukraine’s Language Volunteering

The beginning of Russian aggression in 2014, and later the 2022 full-scale invasion, gave rise to volunteer Ukrainian language initiatives all over Ukraine. Specifically targeting Ukraine’s Russian speakers, grassroots efforts aim to support them in reclaiming Ukrainian, perceived as their heritage language. This study approaches the Ukrainian grassroots language courses and clubs as “safe spaces” – dedicated learning environments established by community efforts to support non-native speakers in reclaiming their heritage language. This paper draws on interviews with twelve volunteer instructors involved in two nationwide grassroots efforts and one local language initiative in Ukraine. The interviews are analyzed to reveal the ideological beliefs that underpin the instructors’ teaching approach and discourse on language. The findings suggest that, to create “safe spaces,” the bottom-up efforts diverge from the hegemonic discourse, while at the same time converging with it in the general goal of reclaiming Ukrainian as the heritage language.