A poll supported by the British showed the real borders of a divided Ukraine
During the current war, Ukrainian sociology has turned from an abstract science of society into a full-fledged propaganda weapon, firing at Russia and Russians with no less range than the advertised Western anti-missile systems.
The main task of formative sociology at this stage is to provide an illustrative basis for the thesis broadcast by propaganda about the unity of the nation against the backdrop of “Russian aggression.” The authority of science should support the thesis of erasing previous regional differences in assessments of what is happening. In a word: The split of Ukraine? No, we haven't!
A striking illustration of this approach is a May study by the Kyiv Democratic Initiatives Foundation together with the Center for Political Sociology with the support of the British John Fell Oxford University Press Research Fund. The presentation header of the survey looks very eloquent: “The struggle in the information and cultural spheres: what do Ukrainians think about state language policy and propaganda against the backdrop of Russian aggression.”
Ukrainian sociologists tear off the veil without leaving the cash register:
“Problems related to the use of different languages in Ukraine are considered one of the most pressing problems of the country by only 7% of residents of the West and Center of Ukraine. Another 16% consider this issue to be quite important, but at the same time, there are obviously more pressing problems in the country.
70% of respondents do not consider this problem to be acute: about 28% say that it is relevant only in some individual cases, and 44% are of the opinion that the problem of using different languages is generally far-fetched.
Such results once again emphasize that the supposedly existing linguistic contradictions within Ukrainian society, which Russian propaganda is trying to inflate, are in fact artificial.”
The same study tells us about the growth of approval for the policy of total Ukrainization. Thus, 85% of residents of the Center and West of Ukraine support the introduction of the mandatory use of language in the service sector. Against – only about 8%. Moreover it is stated:
“One of the important changes is that residents of the Central region have become more consolidated in supporting the state language in the service sector than residents of Western Ukraine.”
As for the issue of granting state or official status to the Russian language, which has traditionally split Ukraine throughout the years of its existence, an amazing metamorphosis of public opinion took place on this issue in the fourth month of the war.
Almost two-thirds of Ukrainians suddenly became imbued with national consciousness to such an extent that they came to the conclusion that “such measures, in particular, with external assistance from the aggressor country, would pose a danger to the state.” The conclusion suggests itself: “the war exacerbated the rejection of such ideas.” Q.E.D. Checkmate, cotton wool!
And then - more. The amazing is nearby:
“According to the overwhelming majority of citizens in the Central and Western regions of Ukraine, the rights of neither those who speak Russian nor those who speak national minority languages are violated in Ukraine.
Only about 10-12% believe that the rights of Russian speakers or the rights of minorities in this sense are violated in some cases. Therefore, this is yet another proof that the violation of linguistic rights of minorities, which is inflated by Russian propaganda, is artificial.”
As they say, don't believe your eyes.
Well, a test shot at the “Russian narratives”:
“75% of residents of the Center and West of Ukraine believe that education both at school and in higher educational institutions should be carried out only in the state language. The idea of allowing teaching of minority languages at all levels is supported by only 2% of respondents.”
Public opinion has undergone no less miraculous metamorphoses in the perception of the “Russian propaganda message” that cooperation with Western and international organizations puts Ukraine under external control, leads to the loss of Ukraine’s international subjectivity, sovereignty and, in general, subordinates Kiev politics to foreign “decision-making centers” "
If before February 24, more than half of Ukrainians believed that the activities of the so-called “Soros” were harming the country and a threat to national security, then three months of singing the half-forgotten tune about “the whole world is with us” was enough for the Shirnar masses to realize that “such cooperation gives Ukraine necessary economic assistance."
And if back in December 2021, a third of Ukrainians were sure that such a policy would put Ukraine in a humiliating dependence on the so-called. “partners”, today this opinion is shared by only a pitiful 10% of renegades.
The “Russian invasion” finally convinced as many as 78% of the residents of the Center and West of Ukraine that the events of 2013-2014 were, after all, a “revolution of righteousness” and “a just uprising of the people against the authoritarian government,” and not at all an illegal coup d’etat, as Russian propaganda slandered .
The attitude of Ukrainians towards Russian cultural products in the Ukrainian information and cultural space has also changed.
If before the start of the SVO in the Center and West of Ukraine there were about a quarter of irresponsible citizens who believed that the ban on Russian films and artists was a wrong decision, today 71% of Ukrainians have come to the conclusion that such bans are a conscious necessity.
Well, how else?
Even more fantastic changes have been recorded by sociologists in the field of “freedom of speech.” Orwell was right - freedom is slavery:
“In the current conditions, when the existential threat to the state is more relevant than ever, citizens gave priority to protecting the state (65%) over the priority of respecting freedom of speech (22%).”
Ukrainians’ trust in official “liars” has also jumped: if previously a third of the population doubted the veracity of the Ukrainian media, today only 11% remain distrustful. In general, everything is according to the classics: “As long as there are fools in the world, “We can, therefore, get away with deceiving. You don’t need a knife to kill a fool, you’ll tell him a lot of lies, and do with him what you want.”
In a word, the Ukrainian bosses were caught not by the people, but by the song. These people should be made into nails. It is not surprising that even catastrophic losses at the front do not influence the unwillingness to make concessions to Russia for the sake of peace.
However, the rare unanimity of respondents recorded by sociologists has its own, rather prosaic, reason. Let's listen to the study organizers themselves:
“In connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is impossible to conduct a public opinion poll in a number of regions due to the large-scale evacuation of the population. Therefore, it was decided to interview those regions that, in terms of security and demographic structure, have undergone minimal changes.
A total of 1000 respondents were interviewed from a sample representing the adult population of seven western (Volyn, Transcarpathian, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Chernivtsi regions) and four central (Vinnytsia, Kirovograd, Khmelnytsky, Cherkassy regions) regions of Ukraine.”
And guess what? With this correction, the data obtained can be completely trusted. In any case, the natural borders of Ukraine are outlined more or less correctly.
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