Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv or Kiev? Russian impact on capital city's pronunciation explained

On Friday, explosions and gunshots erupted in a northern suburb of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. The first Russian troops appeared on the outskirts of Kyiv on Thursday, when helicopter-borne troops attacked an airstrip in Obolonsky, just outside the city. Vitaly Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, claimed the capital had "entered a defensive phase." Russian saboteurs had invaded the city, according to previous reports, while Russian forces, including tanks, approached the city from numerous areas.

The ongoing Russia Ukraine war has captivated the world's attention as the situation worsens, but for those unfamiliar with Ukraine, the name of its capital city, Kyiv, may cause some confusion. If you've been listening to or watching the news, you've probably noticed that reporters pronounce the name of the eastern European city Kyiv (KEEV) and Kiev (KIEV) (Key-EV). The history of these two pronunciations of the city's name may be found here.

Kyiv or Kiev?

Kiev, often known as Kyiv, is Ukraine's capital. The Ukrainian name for the city is Kив, written in the Ukrainian Cyrillic alphabet. It is commonly referred to by its romanized name Kiev or Kyiv when written in the Latin script. The name is thought to be a composite phrase that literally means 'Kyi's Castle,' after the city's founder.

History & Russian Influence

Kyiv is known as Kœnugarðr in Norse or Scandinavian mythology. Because it is based on a historical Russian derivation of the name, Kiev has been the historic English-language name for the city, but its use in the West is waning. Because of the escalating tension between Russia and Ukraine, the official romanized name Kyiv has been adopted. Following Ukraine's independence in 1991, national guidelines for transliterating place names from Cyrillic to Latin alphabets were established.

The regulations applied to legislative and official acts, as well as papers from Ukrainian officials were a clear indication of the intended spelling. The official name was to be Kyiv, according to the guidelines. In all English-speaking foreign diplomatic missions and governments across the world, including the EU, the spelling (Kyiv) has now officially replaced Kiev.

How to pronounce Ukrainian capital's name

The Foreign Ministry initiated the #CorrectUA campaign in 2018 to promote official spellings of Ukrainian localities in an effort to rectify 'outdated, Soviet-era' monikers. Kyiv's pronunciation differs slightly from the city's Russian-derived name. While English speakers pronounce Kiev as KEY-EV, the true way to pronounce the Ukrainian capital's name is KEE-EVE.

Kyiv is the country's most populous city and Europe's seventh most populous city. It is also one of the country's oldest cities. The population was 2,962,180 in January 2021. It is located on the Dnieper River, on the outskirts of the Polesia woodland area, in Ukraine's north-central region. Kyiv is encircled by Kyiv Oblast (administrative region).

Image: AP