A pejorative meaning of the word began to develop in the Viking Age, but is clearest in the medieval Icelandic sagas, written two or three centuries later â in the 1300s and 1400s.
The Ukrainian is a cyrillic alphabet, not latin, so it is similar to other Eastern Slavic alphabets (including Russian). While many letters are similar, most slavic languages have letters that are unique to their alphabets. The Russian alphabet includes such letters as Ñ, Ñ, Ñ, Ñ, the Ukranian one doesn't include these letters.
If you want to speak Russian or Ukrainian you will have to find new friends who speak it with you from the very beginning or make friends with a lot of babushki who you are certain will never learn a word of English. Read tips for learning Russian and Ukrainian for expats in Ukraine.