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KIEV, May 24 (RIA Novosti, Olga Bernatskaya) - Dnipropetrovsk, a major industrial city in Ukraine's eastern region, has made Russian a regional language, a municipal council spokesman said Wednesday.
"The decision was backed by 77 votes out of 107," the spokesman said.
Four other cities in largely Russian-speaking areas in the country's east and south have passed similar resolutions, which have sparked nationwide debate over the status of Russian and calls from the predominantly Ukrainian-speaking west of the country for more measures to protect the Ukrainian language.
City Prosecutor Mykola Gornostayev warned deputies he would contest the decision on the grounds that it breached the constitution and the country's laws.
Presidential press secretary Irina Gerashchenko said earlier that Viktor Yushchenko disapproved of decisions made by the councils and sent a letter to Prosecutor General Oleksandr Medvedko demanding that measures be taken to bring the decisions of the local councils into line with the country's constitution.
