Russian and Ukrainian: Are They Really “Almost the Same”?

To someone who doesn’t speak either language, Russian and Ukrainian can sound similar. They use related alphabets, share some vocabulary, and belong to the same East Slavic language family. This has contributed to a widespread assumption far beyond Russia and Ukraine: that the two languages are “almost the same,” or that Ukrainian is essentially a variation of Russian.

But that assumption is wrong.

When journalist and linguist Ksenia Turkova moved to Ukraine as a native Russian speaker, she expected Ukrainian to be easy to understand. Instead, she remembers turning on Ukrainian television and realizing that she could not even fully follow the news. Learning Ukrainian became not only the process of learning another language, but also of discovering how much of what she had assumed about the relationship between Russian and Ukrainian was mistaken.

In this talk, Turkova combines that personal experience with her perspective as a linguist to explain, in a way designed for people who speak neither language, what actually makes Russian and Ukrainian different. Through concrete examples, she will compare vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and other features — and show why being related does not make two languages interchangeable.

The lecture will also explore why this linguistic misconception has political consequences. For centuries, Russian imperial and later Soviet authorities sought to restrict, marginalize, or Russify Ukrainian. Russian propaganda has repeatedly portrayed Ukrainian as artificial, provincial, corrupted, or simply “not a real language” — ideas that continue to appear in rhetoric about Ukraine today.

Why does the distinction between two languages matter? And what happens when linguistic similarity is used to support the claim that two peoples, cultures, or countries are really “one”?

Part personal story, part linguistic exploration, and part examination of propaganda, this talk challenges one of the most persistent misconceptions about Ukraine: that Russian and Ukrainian are “almost the same.”

At each of our events you can expect a warm atmosphere, an ability to network as well as complimentary refreshments.
RSVP is recommended, and donations welcomed.

Senate Square Society, an organization that is opposed to the current Russian regime and fully supports Ukrainian independence and territorial integrity.