I have been wondering about this language division as many commentators tend to gloss over that there are two active languages in use in Ukraine. Any media outlet in Ukraine was almost forced to use Russian because this language had a wider audience as many Ukrainians do speak Russian, but not the other way around.

There was another commentator here who mentioned that there has been a third language forming in Ukraine. It is a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian--and has become more prominent in Russian majority areas. In other words, the Russian language is being influenced by Ukrainian.

Maybe you would have some more insights into this dialect?