Constant Russian attacks and energy terror did not demoralise Ukrainians: majority is opposed to concessions

Opinion polls have confirmed the firm unreadiness of Ukrainians to agree on territorial concessions despite the pressure and terror carried out by the aggressor state, Russia. 

Source: results of the survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on 4-27 December 2022

Quote: "In May, July and September 2022, we asked a question about the readiness for territorial concessions to achieve peace as soon as possible. Now, in December 2022, we have asked this question again to gauge the dynamics of public moods.

Graph 1 shows the respondents' answers. As can be seen, for 85% of respondents, no territorial concessions are acceptable. Only 8% believe that in order to achieve peace and preserve independence, it is possible to give up some territories.

In September, 87% considered the concessions unacceptable, but the difference with the current indicator is within statistical error, that is, in fact, no changes have occurred. Also, in September, as many as now (8%) were in favour of negotiations and were ready to give up certain territories. At the same time, now the share of those who do not support territorial concessions is slightly higher than the indicator as of May 2022."

Details: The vast majority of the population is against any territorial concessions in all oblasts of Ukraine. Even among the residents of the east of Ukraine, where intense battles are taking place now, 80% are against concessions (only 9% are ready for them); among the residents of the south, 82% do not support the idea of concessions (only 10% do). In comparison with September 2022, the situation in all oblasts is more or less stable, as noted by the sociologists.

The absolute majority of Ukrainian-speaking, bilingual and Russian-speaking Ukrainians (respondents who consider themselves Ukrainians as per their nationality) are against any kind of concessions. 

Quote from Anton Hryshetskyi, Deputy Director of the KIIS: "Ukrainians maintain stability and dismiss a narrative of ‘the necessity of territorial concession to pacify the aggressor’ after 10 months of an exhausting and cruel war.

From October until now, Russia has launched regular terrorist attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leaving millions of Ukrainians without electricity, heating and water. An obvious goal is to torture the population and create a situation of internal tension to put pressure on the military and political leadership of the country. However, an examination of social view dynamics reveals that all of the attacks have had no effect on Ukrainians' willingness to make concessions."

For reference: From December 4 to 27, 2022, the KIIS conducted its own all-Ukrainian public opinion survey Omnibus.

2,005 respondents who live in all oblasts of Ukraine, except for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, were interviewed with the computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) method based on a random selection of phone numbers.  

The survey was conducted with adult (aged 18 and older) citizens of Ukraine who, at the time of the survey, resided on the territory of Ukraine (within the borders controlled by the Ukrainian authorities until February 24, 2022).

Residents of the territories that were temporarily not controlled by the government of Ukraine till 24 February 2022 (the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, and separate districts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts) were not included in the selection. Those citizens who left Ukraine after 24 February 2022 were also not interviewed.

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