Number of Ukrainians who are not ready for any territorial concessions in war increases – KIIS survey

IRYNA BALACHUK — THURSDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER 2022, 11:36

87% of Ukrainians are not ready to make any territorial concessions in Russia's war with Ukraine; this figure has increased by 3 percentage points since July, while the number of those ready to give up some territories has dropped.

Source: results of a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), conducted on 7-13 September 

Quote from Kyiv International Institute of Sociology: "No territorial concessions are acceptable for 87% of respondents (and this indicator has increased, compared to July, by 3 percentage points).

Only 8% believe that in order to achieve peace and preserve independence, it is possible to give up some territories (and the share of such people decreased, compared to July, by 2 percentage points)."

Details: Sociologists stress that the absolute majority of residents in all regions of Ukraine reject any territorial concessions. Even among the residents of the eastern [part of Ukraine], where intense fighting is currently going on, 85% stand against concessions (only 10% are ready to make any). Among the residents of the South [regions], 83% are against concessions (only 10% are ready to make any).

KIIS points out that from May to July in the East, the number of those who oppose any concessions increased from 68% to 77%, and in September this figure increased to 85%. Sociologists stress that now, there is actually no difference between the views of residents of different regions.

Only 2% are in favour of territorial concessions among the respondents who until February 24 lived in the territories that were occupied after the full-scale invasion of Russia (and almost all such respondents left for the territories under the control of the government of Ukraine).

Instead, 92% of these citizens believe that there should be no territorial concessions.

In general, 6% support concessions among internally displaced persons, and 90% oppose them.

Among Russian-speaking Ukrainians, 85% oppose territorial concessions (10% support the idea). Most of the Russian-speaking Russians (57%) reject any concessions (24% support it).

The research took place during 7-13 September. 2,000 respondents over the age of 18 living in all regions of Ukraine (except Crimea) were interviewed with the method of telephone interviews based on a random sample of mobile numbers.

The survey was conducted among citizens who, at the time of the being interviewed, lived on the territory of Ukraine (within the borders controlled by the authorities of Ukraine until 24 February).

The sample did not include residents of territories that were temporarily beyond the control of the authorities of Ukraine until 24 February (Crimea, Sevastopol, some districts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts), and the survey was not conducted among citizens who left the country after 24 February.

Formally, under normal circumstances, the margin error of such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.1) did not exceed 2.4% for indicators close to 50%, 2.1% for indicators close to 25%, 1.5% - for indicators close to 10%, 1.1% - for indicators close to 5%.

A certain systematic deviation is added due to conditions of war, in addition to the specified formal error. However, sociologists believe that the obtained results are still highly representative, offering a fairly reliable analysis of the public mood.

Background: 

• In May, the KIIS reported that 82% of Ukrainians had not been ready to sacrifice some territories of their country for peace.
• In July, the number of people who said territorial concessions were unacceptable for them increased to 84%.

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