63% of respondents speak mainly Ukrainian at home, 26% speak both Ukrainian and Russian depending on circumstances, 10% speak mainly Russian, and fewer than 2% another language. From month to month, the share speaking Ukrainian at home varied between 61% and 65% with no clear trend, so the pooled estimate is more reliable than any single wave.
Which language do you mainly speak at home?
Pooled data, February–September 2026; regions exclude the May wave
- Mainly Ukrainian
- Both languages
- Mainly Russian
- Other
Show data as a table
| Mainly Ukrainian | Both languages | Mainly Russian | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukraine | 62.6% | 25.9% | 10.0% | 1.5% |
| West | 91.3% | 5.6% | 1.4% | 1.7% |
| Centre | 70.7% | 22.5% | 6.1% | 0.7% |
| South | 38.1% | 41.8% | 17.6% | 2.5% |
| East | 27.4% | 47.5% | 23.7% | 1.4% |
Regional differences are substantial. In the West, 91% speak mainly Ukrainian at home; in the Centre, 71%. In the South and East, bilingualism is the most common pattern, reported by 42% and 48% respectively. In the East, the shares speaking mainly Ukrainian (27%) and mainly Russian (24%) at home are not statistically different.
What these data do not tell us
The language spoken at home is an everyday practice, not an identity or a political position. The figures are respondents' self-reports, not observations. The survey does not cover occupied territories or Ukrainians abroad, and the eastern regions are under-represented compared with before the war. Finally, the data are weighted to the pre-war population structure, so the estimate describes residents of government-controlled territory in pre-war demographic proportions.