Land for peace. Are Ukrainians willing to give up their territories to stop the war — a survey

Author

Olga Krotovska

The absolute majority of Ukrainians are strongly opposed to giving up their territories for the earliest possible end to the war Russia is waging in Ukraine. This is evidenced by the results of the survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) from July 6 to 20, 2022.

The obtained results demonstrate that 84% of the respondents are against any territorial concessions, while 10% are in favor of them. In May, a similar survey showed virtually the same figures: 82% versus 10%.

What percentage of Ukrainians support territorial concessions to end the war. Photo: KIIS

All regions of our country are opposed to making concessions to the aggressor. Even in the Ukrainian East, which is suffering the most from Russians, 77% are against concessions (with only 16% supporting them). However, in May, attitudes somewhat differed in these regions: 68% versus 19%. In the West, there were 9% willing to concede versus 87% against it in July. In May, the numbers were 8% versus 84%.

Land for peace with Russia. Photo: KIIS

The KIIS also identified a separate category of citizens who lived in the territory that was occupied after February 24, and who moved to the territory under the control of the Government of Ukraine. Among them, only 17% of respondents are in favor of territorial concessions, while 82% wouldn’t accept them, believing that there should be no territorial concessions.

From the perspective of linguistic and ethnic categories of the population of Ukraine, 76% of Russian-speaking Ukrainians are strongly against giving up Ukrainian land (while 14% support territorial concessions). Among Russian-speaking Russians, 68% oppose any concessions, while 19% support them.

Ukrainians are not willing to give up their territories to Russia to achieve peace. Photo: KIIS

The results of the research show that there is a consensus on the impossibility of concessions among the population of all regions and among different linguistic and ethnic categories. Although Russia (and irresponsible Ukrainian politicians, "journalists", and "experts") tried to impose a "split" on Ukrainian society along various lines, today both residents of the West, and residents of the East, and Ukrainian-speaking residents, and Russian-speaking residents, and ethnic Ukrainians, and ethnic Russians have a common view on the impossibility of territorial concessions to the aggressor," Anton Hrushetskyi, Deputy Director of KIIS, commented on the research.

Context. Earlier, Gradus Research studied the impact of the Russian war against Ukraine on the trust Ukrainians have in each other. The results indicate significant changes in Ukrainian society since February 24, which occurred amid ongoing fighting in the country.