The borders of the Southeastern dialects reach from the south of Kyiv and Sumy oblasts to the Black Sea and from the northern or western parts of Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, and Odesa oblasts to Ukraine's eastern border.

They are also spoken in Crimea as well as in Belgorod, Kursk, Rostov, and Voronezh oblasts of Russia.

Phonetically, its closest relatives are the Podolian [uk] and southern Volhynian [uk] dialects, while its simplified syntax, morphology, and vocabulary are closer in nature to the Northern dialects.

According to a 1969 study by Valentyna Perebyinis [uk], ⟨ɡ⟩ is one of the least-used sounds in the Southeastern dialects alongside /dʒ/ and /dz/, at a usage rate of 0.013.

[6] The Slobozhan and Steppe dialects are both relatively young, having emerged from Middle Dnieprian no earlier than the 16th century.