Despite the war: how many Ukrainians maintain a positive attitude towards Russia
8 November 2024 05:11
The majority of Ukrainians, namely 93%, express a negative attitude toward Russia, while only 3% have a positive attitude toward the aggressor country. This is stated in the results of a study conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) from September 10 to October 3, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
It should be emphasized that the negative attitude towards Russia began to grow after its aggressive actions, and did not arise before.
Until February 2014 (inclusive), i.e. before the occupation of Crimea, the vast majority of Ukrainians had a good attitude towards Russia. In the period 2008-2010, an average of 91% of Ukrainians had a good attitude towards Russia, and in the period 2011-2014 (up to February inclusive) – 82% (some decrease may be due to the peculiarities of the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych and the then political and economic relations with Russia, although the 82% figure still shows that the vast majority of Ukrainians had a good attitude towards Russia).
In February 2014, 78% of Ukrainians had a good attitude towards Russia and only 13% had a bad attitude (which once again proves that the Revolution of Dignity was not anti-Russian in its orientation and content). Favorable attitudes toward Russia prevailed in all regions of Ukraine, from the West to the East.
The occupation of Crimea, attempts to destabilize the South and East of Ukraine, and eventually Russia’s unleashing of the war in Donbas led to a significant decrease in the share of those who have a good attitude towards Russia. The indicator reached its lowest level (by 2022) in May 2015, when 30% of Ukrainians had a good attitude toward Russia. Then the indicator began to recover, and in 2019 and early 2020, 54-57% had a good attitude toward Russia. Since the beginning of 2020, attitudes toward Russia have begun to deteriorate again. On the eve of the full-scale invasion of 2022, in February, 34% of Ukrainians had a good attitude towards Russia, 50% had a bad attitude.
After the invasion, the vast majority of Ukrainians have consistently had a poor attitude toward Russia. As of October 2024, 93% of Ukrainians have a bad attitude toward Russia, while only 3% have a good attitude.
“The Russian authorities and propaganda claim that their aggressive actions are a response to the growth of anti-Russian sentiment (although even this cannot justify military action in any case). However, our data show that Ukrainians have maintained a good attitude towards Russia, and only Russia’s brutal actions forced Ukrainians to reconsider their attitude,” the sociologists said.
The sociologists also studied the attitude of Ukrainians towards Russians living in Russia and found that only 8% of Ukrainians have a positive attitude towards them, while 84% have a negative attitude.
In October 2024, the vast majority of Ukrainians in all regions have a negative attitude toward Russia: from 96% in the West to 88% in the East. Only a small proportion express positive attitudes, ranging from 1% in the West to 5% in the South.
In addition, some Ukrainians were asked about the acceptable level of closeness with Russians (using a Bogardus scale, where 1 means acceptance as a family member and 7 means not allowing them to enter the country). The overwhelming majority answered that Russian citizens should not be allowed to enter Ukraine at all.
