The majority of the Ukrainians have changed their view on Russia

By Vestnik Kavkaza

In the context of the political crisis in Ukraine and the information war, it is interesting what the Ukrainian people think about the developments. Meanwhile, the results of social polls present an ambiguous picture.

The results of a social poll organized by the sociological service ‘Razumkov Center’ stated that 66.9% of respondents were not satisfied with the development of Ukraine; and only 17.5% of respondents thought that the country is developing in the right direction.

21.8% of people believe that Ukraine is able to overcome the current problems in a few years; 42.7% think that it will happen in the farther future; 21.6% of respondents state that the government is not able to overcome the current problems.

30.7% of respondents think that this year the country will face mass shutting-down of enterprises and unemployment, a default and the drastic devaluation of the hryvna. 26.7% of respondents expect that the crisis will worsen, but without disastrous consequences; 17.8% state there will be stagnation, and only 11.6% of people predict economic growth.

12.6% of respondents completely support the policy of Petro Poroshenko. 39.9% of Ukrainians don’t trust the President.

Yesterday the founder of the Research and Branding Group, Yevgeni Kopatko, presented the research "The political situation, the ratings of parties and politicians. March 2015" which was conducted in all regions of Ukraine, except for the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions.

According to Kopatko, answering the question about who bears the most responsibility for the escalation of conflict in eastern Ukraine, 69% of respondents believe that it is the responsibility of Russia and Vladimir Putin personally, the current government of Ukraine - 35%. “Today fewer people have accused the government of Russia, and slightly more - the Ukrainian authorities. But it is most likely due to the cessation of military confrontation, and people's thoughts turned inside the country more, to the economic situation. Yet the anxiety level is still quite high,” Kopatko said.

Which version of the crisis respondents chose: the achievement of a compromise, this trend becomes stable too, and the military option, from November 2014, it moved from 33% to 24%. “It tells us that there is a tiredness of war, there is an understanding that the situation in the east cannot be solved by military methods, Kopatko says.

Answering the question about how respondents see the future of Donbass, 48% of Ukrainians believe that it will be part of Ukraine, an independent republic - 20%, part of Russia - 10%.

The probability of a new Maidan is 52%. Necessity - 24%. Readiness - 20%. “20% of those who are ready to participate is an incredibly large number in the scale of our country. Still, against the background of tiredness, against the background of quite a heavy economic situation, the level of protest is there, and I think it will remain. Especially with the worsening economic situation,” the sociologist says.

The attitude to Russia has changed for the worse for 72% of Ukrainians. Experts explain this is due to information pressure on residents of Ukraine.

“30% of Ukrainians see Russia as a hostile country. And this number is high not only in Western Ukraine, where it is much larger, but partly in the east. Nevertheless, the majority of Ukrainians believe that it is impossible to resolve the conflict without Russia, without negotiations with Russia, 81% of our citizens believe in that,” Kopatko said.