There is white paint on the base of many of its utility poles and trees. Ukraine is a poor country and the roads are often poorly maintained. Ukraine is flat and green and there is often a row of trees on each side of the road. Ukraine has a large number of old-fashioned looking Lada cars. Ukraine also has unique looking license plate that have their blue and yellow flag on the very left of the plate in place of the blue stripe of Europe.  Ukraine often have their blue and yellow flag colours elsewhere such as on fences, houses or utility poles. Ukrainian houses are generally poor with the rural houses often being made of wood. Urban houses are commonly Soviet-style apartment buildings. Ukraine uses both Cyrillic and Latin on some signs and just Cyrillic on other signs. Ukrainian Cyrillic has a few unique letters that make it identifiable. This includes the letter I (i).The other unique letters are: Ґ (ґ), Є (є) and Ї (ї). Many Ukrainian utility poles have their base section painted white. Ukraine mainly uses square, concrete poles. Similar looking poles can be found in several countries including Russia. Many Ukrainian trees also have the base of their trunk painted white. Ukraine often has a row of trees on each side of the road. The country is flat and typically green. Ukrainian roads are some of the worst maintained in Europe. There are a few ways to help distinguish Ukrainian roads from Russian roads. Ukrainian roads often have a subtle purple/pink tinge to them. Russian roads lack this. Ukrainian roads also tend to be of a worse quality than Russian roads, including commonly have pot holes. Old-fashioned ‘Lada’ cars are abundant throughout Ukraine (and Russia).  Public transport in the Ukraine has yellow license plates. Rural Ukrainian houses come in a range of styles. Houses  with a triangular prism roof, small window upstairs and made of wood are common in Ukraine. The most common type of Ukrainian bollard has a red rectangle that is wider than the rectangles of Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia and North Macedonia. Ukrainian bollards look like Russian bollards however Russian bollards are attached to a narrow support pole. Ukrainian bollards are typically run-down with the rectangle often damaged. Often in Ukraine, random things are painted in the colours of their flag- blue and yellow. Ukraine has a large number of Soviet-style apartment buildings in cities and larger towns. Ukrainian directional signs are blue with white lettering. The signs will generally have Cyrillic on top and the Latin equivalent below or just Cyrillic. Sometimes in Ukraine there will be black and white sections painted on the side of the road or on guardrails. In the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, many utility poles have a red, horizontal stripe around one metre from their base. The location of Kryvyi Rih, which has utility poles with a red, horizontal stripe around one metre from their base. Ukrainian Cyrillic stands out as it contains the letter ‘i’ (І) whereas this letter doesn’t occur in other Cyrillic writing countries. Ukrainian Cyrillic also contains thee more unique letters that only occur in their writing system: ґ, є and ї.

Country Specific

Ukraine uses long, white licence plates, with a distinctive blue and yellow strip on the left (the colours of the flag).

You may also come across older plates, where the blue and yellow are difficult to spot.

On average, Ukraine has some of the worst roads in Europe. Most rural roads have lots of potholes, cracks and warped pavement.

Many random streetside objects are painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag: blue and yellow. Most commonly, you will see fences that have this colour.

The Ukrainian language uses the Cyrillic script. 


Є є 

Ґ ґ

І і

Ї ї

Other European languages that use Cyrillic include Russian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Macedonian.

The Ukrainian word for street is вулиця (vulytsya), abbreviated вул. (vul.).

The Ukrainian word for city is місто (misto), abbreviated м. (m.). It can be used both to differentiate it from other cyrillic languages and to quickly find the city name in addresses.

Ukraine mostly uses plain signposts (and if there is paint on it, it is usually just in the colours of the Ukrainian flag).

Ukraine uses white town entry signs.


Ukraine primarily uses square concrete poles. They can have a variety of different pole tops, and sometimes have white paint at the bottom.

Poles often have diagonal support beams.

You can also find wooden poles, sometimes with concrete support blocks at their base.

Ukraine uses a red chevron with white arrows.

Ukrainian pedestrian signs have three stripes.

In bigger cities and towns, you will often see big Soviet-era apartment blocks. These are often made of light grey brick. They tend to look fairly rundown and poorly maintained. Some are made of concrete prefab units that are stacked on top of each other.

Single-family homes are very common in suburbs and small towns. These neighbourhoods are often heavily vegetated and tend to look rundown. Most roads are unpaved. Buildings are usually made of bricks, often have corrugated roofs, and are invariably surrounded by fences.

This is the stereotypical rural Ukraine:

Generally bad road quality.

A landscape that is usually flat or slightly hilly.

A line of trees or bushes next to the road, with wide open agricultural fields beyond that.

A lack of road infrastructure or buildings, until you reach the next urban area.

Low amount of traffic.

Bollard:

The regular bollards which appear on non-highway roads usually.

These bollards usually appear on highways.

Road Lines:

Ukraine uses the white centerline with white or no side line, like most European countries.
Potholes and other road deformations are very common in Ukraine because they are a bit underdeveloped compared to the rest of Europe.

Road Signs:

Ukraine has blue road signs with white text on them.

Highway signs (they can be green).

Ukraine has the regular Soviet kilometer markers on their roads, which tell you how many kilometers of that road you have passed.

The turn arrows (Chevrons) in Ukraine are white with a red background, but these signs can be found in Russia too.

The settlement entrance signs are white with black text in Ukraine.

Both of these signs are quite common on Ukrainian roads.

Ukraine has these large region entrance signs stating the name of the region you are entering.

The Ukraine uses a 3 lined crosswalk sign. It is one of the more uncommon crosswalk signs.

Road numbering system:

Electricity poles:

Electricity poles in Ukraine are usually painted white at the bottom

License plates:

License Plates in the Ukraine  will have a two letter registration code that is tied to a region, as well as the potential to find regional codes on non-traditional plates (like temporary or government plates) that can tell you the region. 

All area codes in the Ukraine will start with a 0 followed by the number.

Vegetation/Landscape:

Ukraine has a lot of trees planted in a line like this on the side of the road.

Trees in Ukraine can often be painted white at the bottom as an insect repellent.

