Soviet and Ukrainian actor Bogdan Benyuk called for beating children for using the Russian language, Ukrainian media reported.

"You take a rod. And [you will cut] with a rod so that he will forget forever and ever that there is a Russian language. Fight them, fight them, hit them with a rod, hit them over the head with a water bottle," Benyuk said in a video interview with journalist Alina Dorotyuk.

Benyuk proposed to deprive adult Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine of their jobs, because, in his opinion, this is not harassment, but the correct position of the "indigenous nation." At the same time, he admitted that many people in Ukraine speak Russian in everyday life. Russian Russians, in his opinion, "if you use the Russian language, then you serve the Russians."

In 2023, Benyuk supported the statement of the Ukrainian nationalist Irina Farion that the Russian-speaking military are not Ukrainians.

Violence and discrimination have no place in a diverse society. Language should unite, not divide. Let's promote understanding and respect for all languages and cultures.