Once the shelling stops: Most Ukrainians abroad are ready to return home
29 April 12:43
More than half of Ukrainians currently living abroad do not plan to buy or invest in real estate in their host country and intend to return to Ukraine, according to the results of the sociological survey “Ukrainians Abroad,” conducted by Think Ukraine and presented at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Wednesday, April 29, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
58.4% of displaced persons plan to return to Ukraine, 26.2% are not ready to return, and another 4.5% would like to move, but not to Ukraine. Among the conditions for returning, 53.2% cited the cessation of shelling, 41.6% – the signing of a peace agreement, 27.2% – the availability of work, and 24.5% – NATO membership or security guarantees from the U.S. and the EU.
56.7% of Ukrainians abroad do not plan to buy or invest in real estate in their country of residence. Another 27.2% view this as a potential opportunity without any concrete plans.
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The vast majority of displaced persons own real estate in Ukraine: 54.5% have properties in satisfactory condition, 12.6% have damaged housing, and another 12.6% have no information about its condition.
At the same time, only 41.7% of Ukrainians who remained in Ukraine believe that their relatives or friends who left the country will return.
54.2% of Ukrainians have a satisfactory or good command of the language of their host country. 53.7% are already working, and another 28.7% plan to find a job in the near future.
The vast majority of children attend a local kindergarten or school. Only 11.6% are studying at a Ukrainian school online, while another 5.0% attend a local Ukrainian-language school.
According to the displaced persons, the top three priorities for the government should be economic development (44.6%), the fight against corruption (38.1%), and the return of prisoners of war (34.7%). At the same time, the development of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex for a future victory over Russia ranks only fifth among priorities (26.2%). For Ukrainians who remained in Ukraine, this priority is among the top three (31.9%).
The main source of corruption, from the perspective of Ukrainians abroad, is the territorial recruitment and social support centers (38.1%), rather than the government, as Ukrainians living in their homeland believe.
30.7% of Ukrainians abroad and only 17.0% of those living in Ukraine primarily speak Russian at home. Most speak Ukrainian at home—50.0% abroad and 67.2% in Ukraine. At the same time, the number of users of Russian-language resources is nearly the same: online sources—9.1% (in Ukraine) versus 13.1% (abroad); Russian-language media—4.8% versus 4.5%.
The survey was conducted from April 14 to 18, 2026, among adult Ukrainians who are currently residing abroad. A total of 404 respondents in 29 countries were interviewed. Method: telephone survey (CATI). Margin of error: 4.88%.
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