Proceedings of the International scientific and practical conference ―Science and Society in Times of War‖ (June 5-7, 2026) / Publisher website: www.naukainfo.com. – Kharkiv, Ukraine, 2026. - 417 p.

184 the primary or exclusive language. Commercial actors have also adapted to the new symbolic environment. Shop windows, cafés, restaurants, and service providers often use Ukrainian patriotic phrases or Ukrainian-language slogans to show their support for the country. This process may be described as ―wartime Ukrainisation‖ of the linguistic landscape. It is not simply a replacement of one language by another, but a broader symbolic reorientation of public space. Ukrainian becomes the language of defence, resilience, civic belonging, and statehood. The marginalisation and removal of Russian. Another major effect of the war is the reduced visibility of Russian in public space. This process is closely connected to de-Russification and decolonisation debates in Ukraine. Russian-language signs, Soviet-era inscriptions, monuments, street names, and memorial plaques have increasingly been questioned, removed, replaced, or reinterpreted. In many settlements, streets named after Russian or Soviet figures have been renamed after Ukrainian cultural figures, local heroes, soldiers, volunteers, or events connected to the struggle for independence. This renaming is a linguistic and symbolic act. It changes not only the practical address system of a settlement, but also its historical narrative. The public space is rewritten in accordance with a Ukrainian national and local memory framework. The removal of Russian-language elements does not always occur uniformly. The pace and extent of change vary by region, settlement type, political leadership, and local community attitudes. In western and central Ukraine, the shift may be more advanced, while in eastern and southern regions, where Russian has historically had stronger everyday functions, the transformation can be more complex. Nevertheless, the general direction is clear: Russian has lost much of its former symbolic legitimacy in the public visual sphere. It is important to note that the marginalisation of Russian in the linguistic landscape does not necessarily mean the disappearance of Russian from everyday spoken communication. Many citizens may continue to use Russian in private or interpersonal contexts. However, in the public and symbolic domain, the language