Ukrainian belongs to the Slavic language family, along with Russian, Polish, Czech, Serbian, Bulgarian, Croatian, and Belarusian. It serves as the official and national language of Ukraine, spoken by the Ukrainian people as their native tongue. Additionally, several ethnic minorities in Ukraine use Ukrainian as a second language. The language has been heavily influenced by Polish and Russian, owing to prolonged periods of foreign domination. Ukrainian employs the Cyrillic script as its writing system and is considered a descendant of the ancient Slavonic language. Following years of suppression under various foreign powers, Ukrainian experienced a notable resurgence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, previously dominated by Russian speakers, now embraces both Ukrainian and Russian languages.