Ukrainian is an East Slavic language spoken primarily in Ukraine.  It is the first language of the majority of Ukrainians.  Closely related to Russian and even more closely to Belarusian, Ukrainian’s differences lie mainly in the vowel systems.  

Due to ongoing conflict between Russia and the Ukraine, most recently Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, linguistic differences are highlighted and celebrated by Ukrainians.  It is considered impolite to Russify their language, even if it is mutually comprehensible.  For example, the capital city of Ukraine, Kiev, is pronounced in Ukrainian ‘Keev’.