The Russian language is an East Slavic language , meaning that the origin of Russian comes from the Indo-European family. Speaking Russian holds similarities to other East Slavic languages like Ukrainian, yet it is distinct in many ways. Russian (русский язык (help), transliteration: russkiy yazyk) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe. Russian is a Slavic language in the Indo-European family. Russian language, principal state and cultural language of Russia . Together with Ukrainian and Belarusian, the Russian language makes up the eastern branch of the Slavic family of languages. The Russian Language : A Comprehensive Overview Introduction The Russian language , a cornerstone of Slavic culture and history, holds a prominent place in the world’s linguistic landscape. As one of the six official languages of the United Nations and the most widely spoken language in the Slavic group, Russian serves as the primary means of communication for approximately 258 million people. It is the official language of the Russian Federation and enjoys co-official status in several ...