Europe is also in the throws of debating a European economic and Political union. Sure there will always be a cultural identity that will be expolited for political purposes but one should try not to confuse the issues. Many textbooks are not yet available in Ukrainian - and moreover, many professors do not feel themselves fluent enough in Ukrainian to instruct complex subjects just yet. But clearly, at the primary school level, the trend and direction is very clear. A friend of mine visited Lvov with a Russian friend and they had no problems.
People are fairly mature.
If you can speak Ukraine then all the better. But I know that in all the other places I have been the yound people all speak Russian and do not hold on to these Nationalistic values. Maybe Western Ukrain is petty. Here it is better for you to speak Ukraine. However the people are understanding of tourist who speak English and broken Russian, but they will most times not speak to Ukraine or Russian people who speak Russian.