Russian
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Russian man
A male person who comes from Russia, has Russian citizenship, or belongs to the Russian ethnic group.
Mein neuer Kollege ist Russe und kommt ursprünglich aus Sankt Petersburg.
My new colleague is Russian and originally comes from Saint Petersburg.
'Der Russe' (the Russian man) belongs to the N-declension. This means that the word takes the ending '-n' in all cases except the nominative singular. This is a common mistake among learners.
Ich habe gestern mit einem Russen gesprochen.
I spoke with a Russian yesterday.
The word belongs to the word family of 'Russland' (Russia, the country) and 'russisch' (Russian, the adjective). This makes the origin easy to recognize.
Er ist Russe und spricht fließend Russisch.
He is Russian and speaks Russian fluently.
The word 'Russe' (Russian man) can refer both to citizenship (someone with a Russian passport) and to ethnic or cultural origin. The exact context makes clear what is meant.
Obwohl er in Deutschland geboren wurde, fühlt er sich als Russe.
Although he was born in Germany, he feels Russian.
Ukrainian
'der Russe' and 'der Ukrainer' both refer to a male person by origin or citizenship. But the difference is clear: a Russe comes from Russia, has Russian citizenship, or belongs to the Russian ethnic group. A Ukrainer comes from Ukraine or has Ukrainian citizenship. The words can be confused because both countries are in Eastern Europe and some people have multiple languages or cultural connections. Still, you should not simply swap the terms. Use the word that fits the person themselves.
Der Russe aus unserer Sprachgruppe erzählt gern von seiner Heimatstadt.
The Russian man from our language group likes talking about his hometown.
Meine Schwester hat im Zug einen Ukrainer kennengelernt.
My sister met a Ukrainian man on the train.