Material difficulties, peacekeepers, and elections: the main sentiments of Ukrainians at the beginning of 2025
Kyiv • UNN
A large-scale opinion poll showed that Zaluzhnyi has 24.29% of voter support, ahead of Zelenskyy and Tymoshenko. 73.4% of Ukrainians support peace talks, and 89% believe the country's direction is wrong.
Ukrainians started 2025 with a wide range of emotions and feelings, reflecting the complex realities of life in the context of war and economic difficulties. From December 19 to 24, 2024, the NGO "LEADING LEGAL INITIATIVES" conducted a large-scale sociological survey, interviewing 5,000 respondents from all regions of Ukraine, except for occupied and frontline territories. Additionally, the survey was conducted among Ukrainians living abroad – in Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, and other countries.
According to the conducted research, the material conditions of many citizens remain quite difficult: 9.3% of respondents reported that they do not have enough funds even for food. Almost 42% stated that their funds are only enough for groceries, but household expenses are a serious challenge. Another 37% of respondents have enough money for food and household expenses but cannot afford large purchases. Only 2.9% of Ukrainians reported that their financial situation allows them to live without restrictions.
Despite the challenges, traditions remain important for people. When asked about Christmas celebrations, nearly 51% of respondents indicated they plan to celebrate on December 25, while 19% chose January 7. It is particularly interesting that almost 18% of respondents decided to celebrate both dates, reflecting the desire of Ukrainians to find a balance between traditional and modern approaches to celebrations.
Despite this, the overall assessment of the situation in the country is quite critical. More than 89% of respondents believe that the country is moving in the wrong direction, and only 5.6% rate this direction as more positive than negative. Only 2% of respondents think that the situation in Ukraine is moving completely in the right direction. This indicates a deep concern among citizens about the future of Ukraine.
In the context of the war, sentiments also remain ambiguous. 40.3% of respondents have a positive attitude towards the possibility of introducing foreign peacekeepers in the event of a ceasefire, while 27.2% do not believe in such a development. Nearly 11% express a negative attitude towards the idea of introducing foreign peacekeepers. Regarding the further development of the situation, the majority of respondents in Ukraine, specifically 73.4%, believe that Ukraine should engage in peace negotiations, even if this requires compromises. However, almost 26.6% advocate for continuing the war until full return of the borders as of 1991. The format of ending the war provokes various opinions: only 8.8% of respondents believe in peace through the complete victory of Ukraine with the return of territories and accession to NATO and the EU, while 33.4% are willing to agree to security guarantees from western partners as a basis for ending the conflict.
Political preferences of Ukrainians have also undergone some changes. The leader of the presidential ratings is currently Valery Zaluzhny with support of 24.29%. In second place is Volodymyr Zelensky – 16.07%, and in third is Yulia Tymoshenko, who is supported by 12.62% of respondents. At the same time, Volodymyr Zelensky and Yulia Tymoshenko have increased their support by 5.44% and 5.55% respectively compared to the survey conducted in March 2024, while the sympathy of respondents towards Valery Zaluzhny has decreased by almost 4%.
Regarding parliamentary sympathies, the conditional "Zaluzhny's party" is in the lead, which would collect nearly 15.92% of the votes. The second place is occupied by "Volodymyr Zelensky's party" with nearly 13.98% of respondents' sympathies. "Fatherland" under Tymoshenko is favored by 11.96% of respondents. Notably, 9.3% of surveyed Ukrainians chose "another party," demonstrating their uncertainty on this matter.
The survey was conducted by the NGO "LEADING LEGAL INITIATIVES" in the territory of Ukraine (excluding occupied and frontline territories), as well as among Ukrainian citizens living abroad due to the war (Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, and other countries) from December 19 to 24, 2024. The representative sample consists of 5,094 respondents aged 18 and older. Face-to-face interview methods and telephone interviews via the mobile application of the "IQR" system, developed by FLI specialists in a 1:1 ratio, were applied. The margin of representativeness does not exceed 2%.
