Ukraine

The only official language of Ukraine according to its constitution is Ukrainian. However, due to population transfer during Soviet rule as well as preexisting cultural links, Russian is widely spoken, especially in the east and south. Nearly one-third of the population of Ukraine speaks Russian as their primary language, with a large majority of people knowing it at least as a second language.

Ukrainian is often considered the language of rural areas, while Russian is considered that of the cities. In western cities however, this division doesn't stand quite as strongly, with Lviv being almost entire Ukrainian-speaking.

Because of on-going political controversies, the status of Russian in Ukraine remains in flux. Recent laws have allowed local governments to declare Russian an official language, but the implementation and continuation of this trend is dubious.