Poll: About 50% of Ukrainians prioritize freedom over security
Kyiv • UNN
46% of Ukrainians prefer freedom to security, while 34% are willing to give up rights for security. The study shows an increase in the value of freedom compared to 2022.
In Ukraine, about 50% of Ukrainians prioritized freedom over security. At the same time, 34% of respondents said they were ready to give up some of their rights and civil liberties to the state in exchange for security. This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and KIIS from December 6, 2024 to January 9, 2025, UNN reports.
46% of respondents prioritized freedom over security. On the other hand, 34% of respondents said they were ready to give up some of their rights and civil liberties to the state in exchange for security. 20% of respondents could not decide between the two proposed alternatives," the results say,
Compared to August 2022, the share of respondents who are willing to put themselves in danger for the sake of personal freedom and civil rights has increased from 35% to 46%, while the share of those who consider security more important has decreased from 39% to 34%.
It is noted that, regardless of gender, freedom is more important to respondents than security, while among women, the share of those who are willing to risk danger for the sake of personal freedoms is lower than among men: 41% and 52% respectively.
Half of the respondents (51%) in the 18-29 age group agreed that they are ready to be exposed to danger for the sake of personal freedom and guarantees of civil rights. With age, the share of respondents who share this position decreased. Thus, among respondents over 60 years old, 42.5% chose this option.
Among respondents living in the eastern regions, unlike respondents from other macro-regions, the share of those who consider security more important than freedom (38%) is higher than the share of those who consider freedom more important than security (34%).
Ukrainians living below the poverty line are more likely than those with higher incomes to say that security is more important to them than freedom: 37% and 22% respectively. At the same time, the share of those who consider freedom to be more important than security is higher among those with higher incomes than among those living below the poverty line: 58% and 37% respectively.
Despite some fluctuations, over the years, respondents continue to put freedom above welfare. As of December 2024-January 2025, 60% of respondents said they were willing to endure material hardships for the sake of personal freedoms and guarantees of civil rights. On the other hand, 24% are ready to cede their rights and civil liberties to the state in exchange for their own well-being,
16% could not choose any of the options. Compared to 2023 and 2021, the share of respondents who chose welfare at the expense of freedom remained within the statistical error. The share of those who chose freedom at the expense of well-being increased from 40% to 47% between 2021 and 2023, and from 47% to 60% between 2023 and 2025. In both cases, the increase was due to a decrease in the share of respondents who have not decided on their position on this issue.
What should politicians primarily rely on in their decisions?
Politicians should rely on the conclusions of reputable experts rather than follow the will and sentiments of the majority of the population - 31.7%. 58.6% of respondents believe that politicians should rely on the will and sentiments of the majority of the population rather than follow the conclusions of authoritative experts,
The largest share of respondents who believe that politicians should make decisions based on the will and sentiments of the majority of the population lives in the Western regions (62%), and the smallest share - in the Eastern regions (53%). However, this difference is partly the result of a higher proportion of respondents in the eastern regions who could not choose between the two options.
Extremely poor and poor respondents were more likely than those with moderate income and income to agree that politicians should make decisions based on the will and sentiments of the majority of the population: 64% and 62% compared to 56% and 55% respectively. In contrast, those with moderate income and higher income were somewhat more likely to agree that politicians should make decisions based on the opinions of reputable experts: 35% and 36% compared to 28% among the poor and 25% among the extremely poor.
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The Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, together with the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, conducted the survey "Freedom, Security, Prosperity: Ukrainians' Opinion during the War" from December 6, 2024 to January 9, 2025.
The survey was conducted using the CAPI method (computer-assisted personal interview), with 2580 respondents aged 18 and older living in government-controlled areas of Ukraine, except for Donetsk, Sumy and Kherson oblasts, where the survey was not conducted due to security restrictions.
The theoretical sampling error with a confidence level of 95% and a design effect of 1.5 does not exceed 2.9%.
