The official language of Ukraine is Ukrainian, which is a Slavic language. According to the 2001 census, 67% of the population speak Ukrainian as their first language, while 30% speak Russian. Ukrainian is closely related to Russian but also has distinct similarities to the Polish language. Other minority languages in the country include Romanian, Crimean Tatar, Bulgarian, and Hungarian. The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human rights estimates that there are between 150,000 and 400,000 Roma across Ukraine, and an unknown number of this group speak Romani as their first language.

As of 2023, 58% of Ukrainians speak only Ukrainian at home, while 30% speak both Ukrainian and Russian. While most Ukrainians know and understand Russian, most Russians dont know or understand Ukrainian because its a different language. In September 2017, Ukraine instituted a policy on languages in public education requiring that schools use Ukrainian, the national language, in all classes that did not require a second language.