How to Distinguish
- Country-code top-level domain is .ua
- Pedestrian warning signs show three zebra bars
- The Google car sometimes reveals a faint red hood (by Geotips )
- Letters such as і, ї, є, ґ exist in Ukrainian but not in Russian; conversely, Russian uses ы, э, ё instead
- License plates feature blue and yellow bands on the left
Signs you can find
Spotting characters like і, ї, є, ґ confirms Ukrainian, whereas letters such as ы, э, ё appear in Russian but not Ukrainian.
License plates often show blue and yellow bands on the left, though heavy blur can make them difficult to read.
By Andrii crimea ua at Ukrainian WikipediaW - Own work by the original uploader, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
You may glimpse a muted red hue from the Google car. (by Geotips ) Russia and Belgium also have red-tinted cars, and some European imagery features red fringing, so do not rely on this cue alone.
Left: Ukraine. Right: Russia. (Displayed via Chrome DevTools “Enumerate vision deficiencies Emode.) If distinguishing red shades is difficult, lean on other clues.
Narrow down state/region
- The north and west have a humid continental climate (Dfb) with ample rainfall, while the southeast is dry steppe (BSk). Expect denser, taller forests toward the northwest and sparser, lower vegetation and farmland in the southeast. (参考文献 Embassy of Japan in Ukraine — Country overview (Japanese))
Compare roads in the northwest versus the southeast. Even in the northwest you can still find open plains, so regional identification remains tricky.
Narrow down city/town
- Street View covers areas around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (参考文献 Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (Japanese))
