Quote:
Originally Posted by PIMking
How much different is the Ukrainian language compared to Russian?
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There are some differences. I have a very basic understanding of Russian and could get by fine using that in Ukraine. The alphabet is slightly different but not enough to cause any issues and most Ukrainians seem to understand Russian.
We went to Independance Square on Jan 19th, the day that things turned violent. It was fine when we were there but there was definitely a ton of energy in the crowd with speakers being broadcast across the square and on a huge screen. I walked through the protest a bit but it got so crowded that I turned around and left. About one person in ten was wearing a pot on their head to circumvent/protest the new law banning helmets.
We didn't go back to the protest site during the trip but we never felt unsafe in Kiev.