[Marguerite]

“everyone spoke Russian, even the Ukrainians”

The Ukrainian adopted the ridiculous habit of changing the vowels in the Russian words, replacing “a” and “o” by “i” and “y”. Kiev becomes Kiyv, Kharkov became Kharkiv, etc. Other than that, there are no differences.

I understand Russian, and lately I was amazed to discover that I understand “Ukrainian” as well.

[rmlew]

Everyone spoke Russian and most still do because it was the language of the USSR and because Ukraine trades a lot with Russia and gets Russian media. But Ukranian and Russian are different languages, just as Spanish and Portugese are. Ukranian, Russian and Belorussian are descended from Old East Slavic the language of the Kievan Rus, at least in the South. Novgorod had another dialect of Eastern Slavic. Modern Russian is descended from both of these. Ukranian is descended from Old East Slavic, by way of Ruthenian along with considerable Polish influence and loanwords. Belorussian is quite similar. According to a family friend who teaches Slavic languages, Ukranian, Belarussian and Russyn are all modern dialects of Ruthenian. But Russian is a different language.