Main articles: Ukrainian language, Russian language in Ukraine, Languages of Ukraine and Name of Ukraine
According to the constitution, the state language of Ukraine is Ukrainian.[272] Russian is widely spoken, especially in eastern and southern Ukraine.[272] According to the 2001 census, 67.5 percent of the population declared Ukrainian as their native language and 29.6 percent declared Russian.[273] Most native Ukrainian speakers know Russian as a second language.[272] Russian was the de facto official language of the Soviet Union but both Russian and Ukrainian were official languages in the Soviet Union[274] and in the schools of the Ukrainian SSR learning Ukrainian was mandatory.