Films, books and YouTube: how Ukrainians' consumption of the arts has changed during the full-scale war

The full-scale war has been going on in Ukraine for over a year, affecting every aspect of Ukrainians’ lives. In a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Ukrainians from various different regions spoke about how the war has changed their cultural practices.

Source: analytical report by the Institute

Details: A quarter of the respondents (24%) did not feel that the war had affected their cultural practices in any way.

The rest of the respondents said that they had changed their preferences due to the full-scale war in Ukraine. Ukrainians have begun to consume more content in the state language, as well as to engage with the arts in new ways.

• 56% have started listening to more Ukrainian music over the past year;
• 22% have started reading more books by Ukrainian authors;

• 3% have started singing; 
• 2% have started drawing and painting; 
• 2% have started writing their own poems or stories.

The survey also shows that Ukrainians have changed their habits over the past year with regard to the cultural content they consume. In particular, most of the survey participants now choose Ukrainian products over Russian ones.

Films and TV shows:

• 42% have started watching more Ukrainian films/series;
• 46% have partially or entirely refused to watch Russian films;
• 9% have stopped watching films/TV shows at all;
• 15% have not noticed any changes.

Music: 

• 53% have started listening to more Ukrainian music;
• 41% have partially or entirely refused to listen to Russian music;
• 6% have stopped listening to it at all;
• 14% have not noticed any changes.

Books and periodicals:

• 38% have started reading more Ukrainian books;
• 31% have refused to read Russian books;
• 8% have stopped reading;
• 28% have not noticed any changes.

YouTube channels: 

• 39% have started consuming more Ukrainian content;
• 31% have refused to consume Russian content;
• 6% have stopped watching YouTube;
• 27% have not noticed any changes.

Bloggers: 

• 34% have started listening to/reading Ukrainian bloggers more;
• 26% have stopped listening to/reading Russian bloggers;
• 10% have refused to listen to any bloggers;
• 30% have not noticed any changes.

Websites: 

• 35% have switched to Ukrainian websites;
• 27% no longer visit Russian websites;
• 8% have stopped using these sources of information;
• 29% have not noticed any changes.

Three-quarters of the respondents believe that the amount of Ukrainian cultural content has increased over the past year, and 84% have noted an increase in interest in Ukrainian cultural content in Ukraine over the past year.

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