Writer Akunin about Ukraine: Citizens' reluctance to speak Ukrainian is abnormal

A well-known Russian writer Boris Akunin (Grigory Chkhartishvili), who visited the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Sevastopol recently, has said that these cities look like they belong to different countries, and added that it was abnormal for people in one country " not being eager to" speak Ukrainian. The writer spoke of his impressions from his first visit to Ukraine in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine in Strasbourg at the World Forum for Democracy. "Last year I visited two very different places in Ukraine – Sevastopol and Lviv – as I needed this for two different books. Those were my first visits to both of the cities. I got the feeling that I had visited two different countries. I realized how big and diverse Ukraine is. I really got an impression that these are two different countries. They had nothing in common except for writing in Ukrainian. That's interesting," Akunin said. The writer said that he had an impression that Sevastopol "is not Russia's city, but a Russian city." "I don't know whether that's good or bad, but I though that it is strange that people live within the Ukrainian state, but are not eager to speak Ukrainian. I think it's abnormal," he said. At the same time, Akunin noted that people should not be forced to use Ukrainian. "Some ways should be found to awake their interest, to make them like it, to make them feel proud of being Ukrainians, I mean being Ukrainian citizens, to make them like speaking Ukrainian, reading literature and so on. It seems to me that there are some drawbacks in this sphere. Actually, this is a very superficial opinion, and I may be wrong," the writer said. He also said he would like to visit Kyiv, which he has never visited. "But my life is built in a way that I usually go somewhere if I need this for my work or business. If some plot or topic leads me to Ukraine, to Kyiv, of course, I will go there," Akunin said. The full text of the interview in Russian has been posted on the Web site of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency - www.interfax.com.ua.