Russian spies are scattered throughout Ukraine. We would expect no less. But Ukrainians have figured out how to ferret out many of the Russian spies wandering around their country.

While the languages spoken in Russia and Ukraine are similar, there are significant differences. For example, the phonetic spelling of the first names of the respective leaders of both countries. They share the same name, yet they spell their names and pronounce their names with nuanced differences. In transliteration, it’s Vladimir for Putin and Volodymyr for Zelensky. Sounds are automatic giveaways because of the different emphasis of certain vowel and consonant collections in Ukrainian versus Russian.

And so, Ukrainians use a shibboleth involving the name of a popular bakery item. It is the name of a bread called palianytsia. Russians cannot properly pronounce the name of the bread. Try as they might, palianytsia does not come tripping off their tongues. Even if they can say it once, they trip up when saying it three times in a row. And they’ve been outed, caught, and uncovered. The fluffy loaf of bread catches spies in Ukraine like a lie detector.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Jesus taught that what comes out of a person's mouth defiles them. Because it shows something about our nature that cannot long be hidden.