Two-thirds of Ukrainians support restoring country's nuclear arsenal – Kyiv International Institute of Sociology

A total of 73% of Ukrainians support the idea of restoring Ukraine's nuclear weapons, 20% oppose it and 7% are still undecided on this issue.

Source: results of a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) from 2 to 17 December

Details: At the same time, sociologists note that support for restoring nuclear weapons decreases if certain conditions are specified.

Quote from KIIS: "If the scenario involves losing Western support and facing sanctions, support for restoring nuclear weapons drops to 46%, while 44% would oppose such an initiative, with 10% undecided."

Details: If Ukraine has enough resources to sustain itself until acquiring nuclear weapons, 58% would accept losing Western support to achieve this goal. However, 33% would still oppose obtaining nuclear weapons under such conditions.

In all oblasts of Ukraine, the majority – ranging from 61% in the east to 77% in the west – generally support restoring nuclear weapons.

KIIS highlights that trust in NATO does not contradict the desire to restore nuclear weapons.

Quote from KIIS: "Moreover, those who trust NATO are the most supportive of restoring nuclear weapons."

For reference: In 1994, Ukraine officially renounced nuclear weapons by signing the infamous Budapest Memorandum. KIIS reported that in mid-1994, 50% of Ukrainians believed Ukraine should become a non-nuclear state, while 30% supported retaining nuclear weapons. The remaining 20% were undecided.

In autumn 1994, when the question was posed slightly differently, 29% favoured keeping nuclear weapons, 42% supported removing them from Ukraine and 29% were undecided.

Background:

• The study was conducted from 2 to 17 December through telephone interviews based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers. It included 2,000 respondents aged 18 and older. 
• The sample excluded residents of areas temporarily not under Ukrainian control (although some respondents were internally displaced persons from these territories). The survey did not include citizens who left Ukraine after 24 February 2022.
• Under normal circumstances, the statistical error of such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.3) did not exceed 2.9% for indicators close to 50%, 2.5% for indicators close to 25%, 1.7% for indicators close to 10%, and 1.3% for indicators close to 5%.
• During wartime, additional systematic deviations may arise, but sociologists believe the results remain highly representative and reliably reflect public sentiment.

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