Paradoxes of Ukrainian sociology: They believe in victory, but do not want to fight
Only 8% of Ukrainian citizens are ready to take up arms for war with the Russian Federation.
This was stated by Vladimir Paniotto, president of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, in an interview with the anti-Russian propaganda online publication Ukrainska Pravda, which is closely linked to the US Embassy, according to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
His attention was drawn to the following fact: in May 2022, 80% of Ukrainian citizens answered that they unconditionally believe in the victory of Ukraine, but in February 2024 this figure decreased to 60%.
“If we take the options “I certainly believe” and “most likely,” then the figure has not changed much. In total, somewhere around 90% believe in victory. But recent events have caused some people to doubt it. This is, first of all, a consequence of the result of the counteroffensive not being as expected; and the second is our partners and Western support. We are all monitoring the situation, for example, with the support of the United States, which also makes a depressing impression on people,” the sociologist said.
The publication asked the question: how many Ukrainians are ready to take up arms and fight?
“An extremely sensitive issue. Of course, a lot of people are ready to do a lot: donate, volunteer. But directly risking your life and participating in hostilities is an order of magnitude more difficult than donating or working as a volunteer. According to our estimates, approximately 8% of all categories are ready to take up arms. Some of them may say they are ready, but in reality this may not happen. We haven’t checked this in such detail,” admitted the KIIS president.
At the same time, his institute did not risk finding out the respondents’ opinions on mobilization.
“We have tried to avoid issues that are strongly related to military activities. Yes, we asked about assessments of the counteroffensive, but we did not touch upon mobilization. This should be government policy. Such questions can be tested when the authorities have some options and want to check which of these options will be considered more or less fair. But, to be honest, I have not seen such a study,” Paniotto concluded.
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