Russian italic is not slanted Russian. Several lowercase letters are redrawn into completely different shapes, and four of them land squarely on Latin letters you already know. That is why italic Russian does not merely look unfamiliar, it actively misreads.
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The one idea
In English, italic is the same alphabet leaning over. A slanted n is still obviously an n. Russian does not work that way. Its italic descends from handwriting rather than from print, so a handful of lowercase letters are drawn from scratch rather than tilted.
The result is not that italic Russian looks strange. It is that it looks like a different word that you can almost read. Take the ordinary word тут ("here"). Set it in italic and you get тут, which your eye reports as "mym".
Two pieces of good news. This is a lowercase problem only: italic capitals are essentially just slanted, so half the alphabet costs you nothing. And the list of genuinely dangerous letters is four, not thirty-three.
The four that misread
The first three do not merely change shape, they arrive at the exact shape of a letter you already know, which is why they misread rather than just look odd. The fourth is unfamiliar instead of misleading, but it is common enough to belong here. Learn these four and most italic Russian becomes readable.
Print
т
Italic
т
Cursive
т
т reads as m. The worst one by a distance, because т is one of the commonest letters in the language. In the PT Serif font used on this page, the italic т is not merely similar to a Latin m, it is built from that exact glyph. Handwriting does the same thing: three humps.
Print
и
Italic
и
Cursive
и
и reads as u. Again literally the Latin u glyph. Combined with the one above, the very common pair ти comes out as ти, which the eye takes for "mu".
Print
п
Italic
п
Cursive
п
п reads as n. Which is especially cruel, because п is the letter p and н is the letter n. Italic hands you the wrong one of the pair.
Print
д
Italic
д
Cursive
д
д changes twice over. Unlike the three above it borrows no Latin glyph, and italic and handwriting take it in different directions. Italic turns it into a tall curl closer to a ∂ than to anything in the Latin alphabet. Handwriting turns it into a g. It is the one letter you have to learn twice.
Put all four together and де́ти пути́ ("children of the road") becomes де́ти пути́. Nothing there is a typo. Every letter is doing exactly what it should.
All 33 lowercase letters
Print, italic and handwritten cursive for every letter, grouped by how much trouble each one causes. The cursive column is shown without stress marks, because stress marks are a printed learner's aid and are never written by hand.
PrintItalicCursiveNote
The dangerous four : plus й, which just follows и
т
т
т
Becomes m in both italic and cursive.
и
и
и
Becomes u.
п
п
п
Becomes n, the wrong half of the p/n pair.
д
д
д
Italic makes it a tall curl; cursive makes it a g. Learn both.
й
й
й
Follows и, so it becomes u with a breve.
Redrawn, but still recognisable
б
б
б
Ascender curves over to the left.
в
в
в
Narrows towards a rounded b shape.
г
г
г
Loses its corner and becomes a hooked stroke.
ж
ж
ж
Arms curve; stays symmetrical.
з
з
з
Rounds out into a script 3.
к
к
к
Arms soften into curves.
л
л
л
Gains a low entry hook on the left.
н
н
н
Crossbar slants; still clearly н.
ф
ф
ф
Bowls lean but stay paired.
ц
ц
ц
Curves; keeps its descending tail.
ч
ч
ч
Bowl rounds out.
ш
ш
ш
Three arches. Compare cursive т.
щ
щ
щ
As ш, plus the tail.
ы
ы
ы
Bowl rounds; the ь half curves.
э
э
э
Rounder, more open.
ю
ю
ю
The o half rounds out.
я
я
я
Bowl rounds, leg kicks out.
Effectively unchanged : slant only
а
а
а
Same as Latin a throughout.
е
е
е
Same as Latin e throughout.
ё
ё
ё
As е, with two dots. Always the stressed vowel.
м
м
м
Slant only. Note it does not become the m; т does.
о
о
о
Same as Latin o throughout.
р
р
р
Looks like a Latin p in every form. It is an r.
с
с
с
Looks like a Latin c in every form. It is an s.
у
у
у
Looks like a Latin y in every form. It is an oo.
х
х
х
Looks like a Latin x in every form. It is a kh.
ъ
ъ
ъ
Slant only. Hard sign, no sound of its own.
ь
ь
ь
Barely changes. Soft sign, no sound of its own.
Capitals cost you nothing
Worth seeing once so you can stop worrying about it. Italic capitals are the print capitals, slanted. There is no redrawing to learn, which is why a sentence in italic gets easier the moment you reach a proper noun.
Print
А Б В Г Д Е Ё Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Э Ю Я
Italic
А Б В Г Д Е Ё Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Э Ю Я
Cursive
А Б В Г Д Е Ё Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Э Ю Я
Handwritten capitals are a different matter, as the third row shows, but you meet those far less often than italic ones.
Pairs that cost you a misread
Knowing a shape changed is not the same as telling two changed shapes apart. These are the pairs worth drilling.
т against м. Italic т is a rounded three-arch m. Italic м keeps its pointed middle. The letter that looks like an m is not the letter m.
т against ш in handwriting. Cursive т and cursive ш are both runs of humps and are the classic ambiguity in Russian handwriting. Careful writers disambiguate by drawing a bar above the т or below the ш. Most people rely on context instead.
и, л and м in a row. Cursive turns these into repeated strokes, so a word like лишними becomes a picket fence. Count the humps and use the entry stroke: л begins low, м begins with a point.
The height test, for д. Because italic д is unfamiliar in a way the others are not, it helps to have one reliable cue: д is the only letter in the alphabet that gets taller when it is set in italic. In print it is a short letter, no higher than о; in italic it rises to the full height of a б or an ф. So a tall curl in the middle of a word, where print would have had something short, is д almost every time.
Reading practice
Thirty items, hardest last. Read each one in Italic before you check it. When you want the answer, switch the control at the top to Print; the letters change, the layout does not. Cursive runs the same drill in handwriting. Tap to hear it read.
Easy : short words, one or two traps each
тут
here
дом
house
гид
guide (a person)
пить
to drink
путь
way, path
иди́
go! (informal)
ти́хо
quietly
де́ти
children
пи́во
beer
дни
days
Medium : longer words, traps stacked together
дви́гатель
engine
типи́чный
typical
институ́т
institute
литерату́ра
literature
дисципли́на
discipline
путеше́ствие
journey, trip
приве́тствие
a greeting
представле́ние
a performance; an idea of something
подтвержде́ние
confirmation
де́ятельность
activity
Hard : whole lines, which is how you actually meet italic