A new Russian law regulating public signage may appear to be a minor administrative change. But in practice, the move will further marginalize Russia’s Indigenous languages by shutting them out of the public arena.

Starting March 1, businesses are required to use Russian on signs, labels and other public-facing texts, including storefronts and online marketplaces. Officials present it as a measure to protect the Russian language and ensure accessibility. 

But this explanation does not hold up. Russian already dominates nearly every sphere of public life, from education and media to government and business. It does not need protection. 

What this law does instead is define the conditions under which other languages are allowed to exist. 

At its core, the issue is not accessibility, but authority over public space. 

In any city, language is not only spoken; it is seen. It appears on shop signs, menus and navigation systems. These signals shape what is perceived as normal. A language that is visible becomes part of everyday life and will not disappear.

Under the new rules, any text in another language must now be duplicated in Russian. Previously, signs in Indigenous languages could exist on their own. Now their presence is conditional. 

Once one language becomes mandatory and others are optional, a hierarchy of languages forms. 

This dynamic is especially visible in Russia’s national republics, where local languages formally share official status with Russian but remain largely absent from urban environments. Their presence in public space has rarely been the result of state policy. Instead, it depends on the efforts of activists, teachers and small business owners.

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