Sociology: Most Ukrainians blame Russia, but do not plan to fight
As of the first ten days of February, 39% of the Ukrainian population believed that the threat of a full-scale invasion from Russia was either very likely or inevitable.
This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation together with the Center for Political Sociology from February 1 to 12, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
34,3% of respondents consider the threat from Russia to be very probable, 4,3% - inevitable. Another 33% of respondents are inclined to believe that the threat from Russia, although not great, is nevertheless possible. 7% of respondents believe that there is no threat.
The invasion thesis is most supported by the population in western Ukraine (49%). Those who consider such a threat to be insignificant are most numerous among residents of the controlled parts of Donbass (64%). The majority of those who do not believe at all in the threat of aggression from Russia live in the East (15%).
Among voters of the four parliamentary parties, the electorate of “European Solidarity” (65%) believes in the reality of a serious threat of full-scale aggression initiated by the Russian Federation. OPZZh voters have the opposite opinion: in the first ten days of February, only one in three of them believed that the threat of aggression from Russia did not exist at all.
The vast majority of Ukrainians (61%) place responsibility for the growing threat of war on the Russian leadership. This point of view is shared by the majority of the population in the West (84%), South (59%), East (41%) and central part of Ukraine (60%). A quarter of Ukrainian citizens believe that the fault lies with the Ukrainian leadership. This opinion dominates only in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions (53%).
It is claimed that 44% of Russian-speaking Ukrainians believe that Russia bears primary responsibility for the current tensions.
Voters of Batkivshchyna (68%), European Solidarity (84%) and Servant of the People (72%) agree that it is the Russian authorities that are responsible for the growing threat of full-scale military action, while for voters of OPZZh the main antagonists are leadership of Ukraine (49%) and the USA (42%).
In the event of an escalation of the military conflict, 43% of respondents are against any concessions to Russia, even subject to promises from the Russian Federation to stop aggression against Ukraine. This position is shared by the majority of respondents in all age groups. Among respondents under the age of 30, there are almost half as many of those who are ready to refuse Ukraine’s accession to NATO compared to respondents over 54 years of age.
Both in the West (55%), and in the South (40%), East (29%) and Center (45%), the majority of the local population is not ready to support the Ukrainian government if it decides to make concessions to the Russian authorities to achieve peace. The exception is Donbass, where a majority (52%) believe that the Ukrainian government should refuse Ukraine's entry into NATO, since this, in their opinion, could stop Russian aggression.
Compared to December 2021, the number of people wishing to join volunteer forces to counter the military aggression of the Russian Federation in the event of a new invasion of Ukraine increased by 5%. As of the first half of February 2022, a total of such respondents numbered 14%. Another 8% are ready to defend Ukraine in the ranks of the armed forces. 25% will provide all possible non-military assistance.
Thus, the total share of those who are ready to help the army in some way is 48%. 14% do not believe in a new Russian invasion at all (this is 9% less than three months ago).
8% will only try to survive, 3% will go abroad.
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