Belarus

Native Belarusians make up about 83-85% of the population and are the majority ethnic group in Belarus, they have a common cultural, linguistic, and historical background. The largest minority group in Belarus is Russians, making up around 8-9% of the population. Russian speaking Belarusians have cultural and historical ties to Russia, which is reflected in the country’s political and economic relations with Russia. This is why Russia supports Belarus so much and is expecting that much support back, due to the large population of Russians that reside in Belarus. The next minority group is about 3% of the population and is Polish people. They mostly live in the western parts of Belarus. Many ethnic Poles have strong ties to Polish culture and language. The last group is Ukrainians, another small ethnic group that found their new home in the southwestern parts of Belarus. There were no official records of any conflicts between these groups of people.

Religious groups are as follows. Eastern Orthodox Christians are the dominant religious group, with about 80% of Belarusians identifying as members of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church. Next is Roman Catholics, a significant minority, mostly among the ethnic Polish population, especially in the western regions. There are also smaller religious groups such as protestants, catholic, and jewish, but their population is very low.

Ukraine

The dominant ethnic group is Ukrainians, making up approximately 77% of the population. Ukrainian identity is deeply tied to the country’s language, culture, and history, particularly in contrast to Russia.
The largest minority group in Ukraine is Russians, comprising about 17-18% of the population, with a higher concentration in the eastern and southern regions of the country. Russian culture and language have been especially strong in the region, even though the situation has been complicated by recent geopolitical events. Crimean Tatars is the next minority group with its own ethnic, cultural, and linguistic identity, who primarily reside in the Crimean Peninsula. They have faced serious political and social challenges, especially after the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014. Poles, Hungarians, Romanians are smaller ethnic minorities, mainly in border regions, with historical ties to Poland, Hungary, and Romania.

Eastern Orthodox Christians are the single largest religious group in Ukraine, and they have two major divisions: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The division between the two has been influenced by the desire of Ukraine for greater independence from Russia. The Greek Catholics come next, predominantly in the western part of Ukraine, especially in the Carpathian Mountains. They are an important group, with close historical and cultural ties to Catholicism and Western Europe. Jews in Ukraine also make up a historically large group. However, nowadays they form a much smaller population compared with the previous century. Communities of Jews are mainly present in cities such as Kyiv and Odesa.

Both of these countries share a great number of Russians that live on their land. That is the reason the Russian government would like to control the whole entire region. Also, these two Countries have mostly Eastern Orthodox Christians that live within them, but they also have some diversity by other ethic and religious groups.