Ukraine is geographically the largest country that lies wholly within Europe (not counting Russia, which lies half within Asia). Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union from 1922, but became independent once more in 1991. Like Russia, Ukraine uses the Cyrillic alphabet. However it has its own language (Ukrainian). About one in six Ukrainians speak Russian as their first tongue. These people are mostly in the east, which borders Russia. Many people in this region are ethnically Russian and still consider themselves part of Russia. It is in the eastern region that the separatists are based, and where MH17 was shot down.