While Ukrainian is the predominant language in western Ukraine -- especially in Lviv, a province with around 2.5 million residents -- Russian is still widely spoken there.
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Ukrainians often know Russian, but Russians don't often know Ukrainian. So while Ukrainian and Russian are distinct linguistically, there is an important asymmetry to be aware of: even though most Russians don't know or understand Ukrainian because it's a different language, most Ukrainians know and understand Russian.