Corruption poses a greater threat to the country’s development than war, according to a KMIS poll
6 May 14:53
More than half of Ukrainians consider corruption within government agencies to be a greater threat to the country than military aggression. This is according to the results of a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), published on May 6. As reported by "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to the study, 54% of respondents consider corruption a greater threat to Ukraine’s development, while 39% consider war a greater threat.
The survey results show that the number of Ukrainians who consider corruption the greatest threat has increased since May 2024, when that figure stood at 48%.
“This issue is an extremely powerful trigger, especially for a psychologically exhausted society. As we have shown, when we ask an open-ended question, people recognize the truly existential risks of war and name it as the greatest challenge. However, when we explicitly mention the word ‘corruption’ to respondents, it evokes strong emotions and stereotypes (and often ‘clouds’ any rational thinking),” commented Anton Hrushetskyi, Executive Director of KIIS, on the poll results.
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In February 2026, a KIIS poll showed that 65% of respondents named war as the main challenge for Ukraine, while 29% named corruption.
“Our long-term research shows that personal experiences with corruption either remain stable or are decreasing (there is definitely significant improvement in the long term). Another issue is corruption at the highest levels, but here Ukrainians base their judgments primarily on information from the media and social networks. Ordinary people often judge the rise in corruption based on high-profile cases and cannot distinguish between where corruption is actually increasing and where it is evidence of the fight against it,” commented KMIS Director Anton Hrushetskyi.
The all-Ukrainian KIIS survey was conducted from April 20–27, 2026, via telephone interviews with 1,005 respondents. The statistical margin of error does not exceed 1.8–4.1%.
KMIS is a private Ukrainian company that collaborates with the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. KMIS was founded in 1990 as a research center of the Sociological Association of Ukraine and was transformed into a private enterprise in 1992.
Today, KMIS comprises departments specializing in conducting socio-economic, marketing, and political research, as well as health research, and a department for research consulting and auditing.
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