<p align="justify">The <strong>Balto-Slavic language group</strong> consists of the <strong>Baltic</strong> and <strong>Slavic</strong> languages, belonging to the <strong>Indo-European family of languages</strong>. </p>
<p align="justify">Scholars traditionally divide Slavic languages <strong>on the basis of geographical distribution into three main branches</strong>, some of which feature sub-branches: </p>
<ul> 
  <li> 
    <div align="justify"><strong>East Slavic</strong>, including Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Rusyn West Slavic, which further subdivides into: Czech and Slovak, Upper and Lower Sorbian (minority languages in Germany), Lechitic languages: Polish, Pomeranian/Kashubian, Silesian and extinct Polabian</div></li> 
  <li> 
    <div align="justify"><strong>South Slavic</strong>, which further subdivides into: Western subgroup composed of Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian and Slovene. </div></li> 
  <li> 
    <div align="justify"><strong>Eastern subgroup</strong> composed of Bulgarian and Macedonian The oldest Slavic literary language was Old Church Slavonic, of which Church Slavonic is a later descendant. </div></li> 
</ul>
<p align="justify"><strong>To which group of Balto-Slavic languages does Russian belong to?</strong> </p>