Corruption, language issue and incompetence of the authorities: Ukrainians name the reasons for the split in society
Kyiv • UNN
According to the KIIS poll, almost half of Ukrainians (44%) believe that there is unity in the country now, while 15% believe that there is disunity, and 36% see elements of both unity and disunity, and the reasons for disunity are corruption, language issues, government incompetence, injustice, different views on the war, lack of mutual understanding, and the presence of pro-Russian collaborators.
Almost half of Ukrainians believe that there is unity in the country today. Instead, respondents name the language issue, corruption and incompetence of the authorities among the reasons for disunity. This is evidenced by the latest KIIS poll, UNN reports .
Details
The institute explains that KIIS, in its own surveys, in particular, investigates the issue of narratives of division and the extent to which Ukrainians believe in them. At the same time, the question of how Ukrainians themselves perceive the level of unity in Ukrainian society is also important.
The results of the survey show that in general 44% of Ukrainians believe that there is unity in Ukrainian society now (although 10% of them believe that it is the most complete unity, and the remaining 34% are rather inclined to believe that there is unity).
Three times fewer respondents (15%) believe that Ukraine is currently disunited. At the same time, one-third of Ukrainians (36%) believe that there are "equal elements of unity and disunity in society".
The KIIS noted that respondents gave many different explanations and a rather mixed picture can be seen (and there is no single reason that most respondents would give).
The presence of elements of disunity in society was explained by the majority of respondents:
- Cases of corruption (16%). To illustrate, as one respondent noted: "a lot of people are profiting from this war", "corruption is rampant everywhere";
- Language issue (14%). Most respondents did not say what exactly they meant, i.e. it could be either a lack of support for the Ukrainian language or a question of the status or use of the Russian language. Among those who gave more detailed answers, both explanations were mentioned ("discrimination against people who speak Russian", "there should be gentle Ukrainization");
- Lack of competence in the government, distrust of the actions of the authorities and official information from the authorities (13%). "Untimely adoption of necessary laws", "no complaints to the population, but to the authorities";
- Injustice that different people feel the war differently (11%). "Not all regions feel the threat of war", "there is no mutual understanding between those at the front and those in the rear";
- Lack of mutual understanding and mutual assistance, "every man for himself" (9%). "Everyone takes care of themselves", "people do not support each other";
- The presence of collaborators and those who are waiting for Russia (9%). "There are pro-Russian people who believe that it will be better with Russia", "there are many "waiting" people, especially among the older generation
Addendum
KIIS Executive Director Anton Grushetsky noted that the polls show disturbing trends and that it is urgent to strengthen the belief of Ukrainians that everyone remains united and stands united against the enemy.
A review of the reasons for disunity cited by citizens gives a strong impression that many of them are united by a strong reaction to "injustice" (which can manifest itself in different ways and in different areas). According to KIIS polls, consistently over 70% of Ukrainians say they are ready to endure the war for as long as it takes for Ukraine to succeed. However, the demand for a fair distribution of the wartime burden among citizens is becoming increasingly acute. In the coming period, special attention should be paid to the sense of justice among Ukrainian citizens
For reference
The survey was conducted during May 16-22, 2024. Using the method of telephone interviews based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers (with random generation of phone numbers and subsequent statistical weighting), 1067 respondents living in all regions of Ukraine were interviewed.
The survey was conducted with adults (aged 18 and older) citizens of Ukraine who, at the time of the survey, resided in the territory of Ukraine controlled by the Government of Ukraine.
The sample did not include residents of the territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities (however, out of 1067 respondents, 22 to 24 February 2022 lived in the territory that is currently occupied), and the survey was not conducted with citizens who left the country after February 24, 2022.
Formally, under normal circumstances, the statistical error of such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.1) did not exceed 3.4% for indicators close to 50%, 3.0% for indicators close to 25%, 2.1% for indicators close to 10%, and 1.5% for indicators close to 5%. In times of war, in addition to the above formal error, a certain systematic deviation is added. (...) In general, we believe that the results obtained still retain high representativeness and allow us to analyze public sentiment quite reliably
Recall
The KIIS poll shows that the vast majority of Ukrainians (83%) support state interference in the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. In particular, 63% support a complete ban, and 20% support state control and supervision over the Church.
