95 percent of Ukrainians believe in their country’s victory over Russia, according to a poll by Ukraine’s Rating Group institute conducted in early February, which shows that the country’s resolve is not flagging after a year of war.
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At the same time, 97% of Ukrainians polled say they trust their army (up from 65% in 2019) and 90% in their President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (36% in January 2022), according to the poll.
While 17% of the population said they had lost a loved one killed in the war, more than half (58%) felt it was “impossible” to reestablish friendly relations with the Russians and Belarusians, whose country is an ally of Moscow. For 22% such a recovery is possible “in 20 to 30 years” and for 11% “in 10 to 15 years”.
Two-thirds of Ukrainians saw their economic situation deteriorating and 36% said they had lost their jobs.
In contrast, the proportion of Ukrainians living apart from their relatives due to the war fell from 41% in March 2022 to 21% a year later.
The survey was conducted in February among a “representative sample” of more than 1,600 Ukrainians living in different regions of the country, except for the Russian-held areas of Crimea and the east.
The study also reveals the pro-Western aspirations of Ukrainians: 87% of Ukrainians want to join the European Union and 86% want to join NATO, the proportion of which has steadily increased in recent years.
In February 2022, before the start of the war, 62% of Ukrainians wanted to join the Atlantic Alliance, while 30% were against. When Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in March 2014, sparking a crisis between the two countries, a majority of Ukrainians were even rated against NATO integration (43% vs. 34%).
The study, published by the Rating Institute, also examines Ukrainians’ opinions on a wide range of social issues.
It also shows that the proportion of Ukrainians who say they have “no doubt” about the existence of God has fallen from 60 percent to 55 percent since 2021, while supporters of the death penalty have fallen from 52 percent to 42 percent.
In contrast, the proportion of the population who say they have “neutral or positive attitudes towards the LGBT community” in the country has increased from 53% to 64% since 2021.