Viagra is from Ukraine, but they mostly perform in Russia. Many Ukrainian singers sing in Russian. Just like German bands sing in English -duh! The reason they do it is because then their market is 380,000,000 + Russian speakers ( native and non-native).
They are singing in Russian in this video.
The Russian language in Ukraine is like English in Ireland, sort of kind of.
It's simplified, the vocabulary is more basic; the accent is funny- like moaning, whereas in Russia they swallow vowels and " croak" like frogs. It's the Finno Ugric influence. Most Russians are not originally Slavic and did not speak Slavic languages up until the 15th century. Their accent is Hungarian-like. If that says anything.
The whole thing about "Russian speakers" is Putin's idiocy. All post-Soviet space is Russian-speaking. It's just that in some countries, they are reviving the old languages, but they still can't wean themselves off Russian. And many just don't want to. After all, all the Spanish and French ( and British) colonies kept their colonial languages, but the national pride is still marked by the unique accent in the language.
Who Putin tried to " protect" are those who don't want to learn the national language in addition to Russian.
This is something similar to Northern Ireland where the " British" people probably don't want to learn Gaelic- they did settle there some time ago and were born there, but they are British; not Irish. So Britain is "protecting" them.
The Irish also speak English, but they promote the national language as well. The "British" in Belfast mainly don't study it and don't want to assimilate even into the bi-lingual culture of Ireland.
The many descendants of Russian settlers in the Crimea and the East don't want schools to be in Ukrainian, they don't want TV channels to be in Ukrainian, they don't want courts or documents to be in Ukrainian. They complain that they can't understand anything.
Why not learn? Get a dictionary for God's sake! Those ethnic Russians who have learned the state language are now in the government. They run the military. There is no discrimination against them. Look at how many -ovs and 'ins there. Turchinov is the main speaker of the Parliament.
Here are some more people who have accepted the culture and are totally integrated:
Sergey Nikoyan- well- he was killed defending the democracy. He is now the national hero. He is of Armenian origin- only first generation born in Ukraine.
Avakov ( probably Avakian originally) Another Armenian-- born in Azerbaijan at that. A citizen and Minister of Internal Affairs. Not bad for a foreign-born person. He took his time to learn the language.
Groysman- a Jewish guy- look at the name and the face. He is the Minister of Development. Well, at least he is not foreign born. Which would not matter there. The country has no laws against foreign born people.
Ukraine has made a huge U turn from its Nazi-like past, its intolerance and hatred for Jews, Russians and Poles and so many other nations. There now, all you need to be is a patriotic citizen and speak the language.
Moses Fishbein- another Jew- a Ukrainian national poet.
So this oppression of Russian speakers is a myth. They are the ones who oppress.
To answer your question- Eastern Ukrainians in villages are a bit more open than the rural Western Ukrainians. In villages no Russian is spoken usually. In cities, they speak it. Are they all similar to Russians, then? Yes, kind of, except that they are not as intellectual- they are just practical people who want to make a living, that's all. They are kind of in between. Think again-- the Irish in Belfast- do they act Celtic or Anglo Saxon? Kind of half of this and half of that, basically.
Pandabear- if you want to listen to Ukrainian, do a search on youtube- "espreso tv live".
Also, there is a new channel "Ukraine Today"- it is in English. Just launched to counter Russian propaganda. Not aware of where in the US we can get it, but it can be watched in Europe from what I hear.
There are not many Ukrainians on the Coasts. Most are inland. Here in Ohio, the colonies are quite big. Same climate, so they are very happy here.
