The Attitude of Ukraine’s Population to Russia and Russia’s Population to Ukraine (2008–2020)

• Main Author: Volodymyr Paniotto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy 2020-10-01
• Series: Наукові Записки Наукма: Соціологія
• Subjects: attitude towards russia; attitude towards ukraine; ukrainian-russian relations; conflict; war; ukraine; russia; ukrainian; public opinion
• Online Access: http://nrps.ukma.edu.ua/article/view/214307/214384
• ISSN: 2617-9067; 2663-063X

The paper accumulates the results of the joint project of Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) and the Russian center for the study of public opinion “Yuri Levada Analytical Center” (Levada-Center). The project started in 2008. Every three months, KIIS inserts in its omnibus survey the questions about the attitude of Ukrainians towards Russia, and Levada-Center on the attitude of Russians towards Ukraine. In total, 34 surveys were conducted in each country, with samples of about 2,000 Ukrainians and about 1,600 Russians (about 68,000 of Ukrainians and 54,000 of Russians were surveyed during the entire period of the project). The data are representative of the population in each of the countries aged 18 years and above. In Ukraine, after 2014, surveys were conducted only in the territory controlled by the government of Ukraine. The attitude of Ukrainians towards Russia from 2008 to May 2014 can be called unrequited love. During this period, in different years, from 80 % to 90 % of Ukrainians treated Russia positively, and the proportion of Russians who favored Ukraine ranged from 30 % to 70 %. The collapse of the positive attitude of Ukrainians towards Russia began after the annexation of the Crimea and continued after the beginning of the war in the Donbass; by March 2015, only 30 % of Ukrainians had a positive attitude to Russia. However, after the end of the active hostilities, a positive attitude towards Russia was gradually restored, and by February 2020, more than 50 % of Ukrainians had a positive attitude towards Russia. At the same time, the attitude of Russians towards Ukraine after the annexation of the Crimea also worsened. During all the period of observation, Ukrainians treated Russia better than Russians treated Ukraine. Besides the question about the attitude towards Russia as a whole, we also asked separate questions about the attitude to the government of Russia and to the population of Russia.