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Less than half of Ukrainians say society is united, survey finds

by Nate Ostiller July 2, 2024 1:34 PM 2 min read
Ukrainians are celebrating the New Year in front of the main Christmas tree of Ukraine, installed on Sofia Square, as the air raid alarm sounds in Kyiv, Ukraine, on December 31, 2023, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Only 44% of Ukrainians believe that there is unity in society, according to a survey released on July 2 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

At the same time, 36% of respondents said there are equal measures of unity and disunity, and a minority said there was only disunity (15%).

Chief among the reasons for societal disunity were corruption (16%), language issues (14%), and lack of trust in authorities (13%).

There was a slight but noticeable variation in the assessment across Ukraine, with the highest number (50%) in the west saying they believed there was unity in society, and the lowest number (36%) in the east of the country.

There were also discrepancies based on which language respondents said they used at home.

Among those who said Russian is their primary private language of communication, 33% said they thought there was unity in society, compared to 31% who believed there was disunity.

In contrast, 47% of respondents who said that Ukrainian was the primary language they used at home said they thought there was unity in society, and only 11% said they believed there was disunity.

"Considering the objective circumstances of the current situation, the assessment of social unity is at a fairly good level for the country," said Anton Hrushetskyi, the executive director of KIIS.

Previous KIIS polls have found that "consistently more than 70% of Ukrainians claim that they are ready to endure the war as long as it will be necessary for Ukraine to achieve success."

"However, the demand for a fair distribution of the wartime burden among citizens is becoming more and more acute," Hrushetskyi said.

Poll: Just 12% of Ukrainians only speak Russian at home
When asked which language they speak at home, 12% of Ukrainians said they speak only Russian, while 59% said they speak only Ukrainian, according to a poll by the Sociological Group Rating published on April 4.
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