Key points
- Young people are increasingly using Ukrainian at home and with friends.
- Russian is gradually taking a back seat.
- Ukrainian dominates in the west, whilst both languages are more commonly used in the south and east.
- Abroad, 40% use Ukrainian and 36% use Russian.
- Support for banning Russian content is declining, most notably among teenagers.
- The survey has been conducted since 2022 in partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sport.
The sociological group “Rating” has presented a new study on the language preferences and cultural priorities of Ukrainian youth aged 14–35, both in Ukraine and abroad. The survey covered 2,050 respondents in Ukraine and 600 young Ukrainians aged 14–35 in 24 countries, and was conducted from 10 to 21 September 2025.
According to the data, the Ukrainian language is increasingly used by young people in everyday life. Most communicate in Ukrainian at home and with friends – 61% and 59%, respectively. A portion use both languages: 21% at home and 26% among friends.
Russian is gradually taking a back seat, used by 17% at home and 15% with friends. Ukrainisation is most pronounced in the public sphere, at work, and in education, where 73% of young people speak Ukrainian.
In Western Ukraine, 94% of young people speak Ukrainian at home, whereas in the South and East these figures are much lower – 23% and 21% respectively, with young people more often using both languages for communication.
Among Ukrainian youth abroad, 40% use Ukrainian at home, while 36% use Russian. Half of the respondents communicate in the language of the country where they live in public settings.
The study also showed that support for a complete ban on Russian cultural products is declining. While 49% of young people supported it in 2024, this figure fell to 40% in 2025.
The proportion of those who categorically oppose the ban increased from 8% to 21%. The most significant decline in support was observed among teenagers aged 14–19, falling from 52% to 28%.
At the same time, 60% of young people in Ukraine consider consuming Ukrainian content important, and 50% value purchasing goods and services produced in Ukraine.
This study is part of a series of surveys conducted since 2022 in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine to examine the impact of the war on young people and their vision of the future.
Read also:
Ukrainian books on the war and reconstruction were presented at the London Book Fair
