One year on, huge majority of Ukrainians confident of victory
Mykola Berezyk (C), 28-year-old, chaplain to the Ukrainian Army’s 95th Air Assault Brigade and also known as “Father Mykola”, arrives to conduct a prayer for Ukrainian servicemen in the Donetsk region on February 22, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP
KYIV — Some 95 percent of Ukrainians are confident of their country’s victory against invading Russian forces, according to a poll conducted in early February by the Ukraine-based Rating Group institute.
The study, published just days before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, also showed a boost in confidence towards Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to the survey, trust in President Zelensky has grown to 90 percent compared to 36 percent in January 2022, a month before the invasion.
Meanwhile, trust in the army was up to 97 percent from 65 percent in 2019.
Seventeen percent of respondents said they had lost a loved one in the war, nearly doubling from 9 percent six months ago.
But the number of Ukrainians separated from their family during the war dropped to 21 percent compared to 44 percent in March last year.
At least one third of the working population lost their jobs, the survey said.
The study also showed the growing pro-Western mood among Ukrainians, with 87 percent of respondents in favour of the country joining the EU and 86 percent in favor of joining NATO.
In February 2022, just before the start of the war, 62 percent of Ukrainians wanted to join the US-led military alliance and 30 percent opposed the move.
In March 2014, when Russian annexed the Crimean peninsula, more respondents (43 percent) were against joining NATO than in favor (34 percent).
More than half (58 percent) of respondents said it was “impossible” to restore friendly ties with Russia, with 11 percent saying it could be possible in 10-15 years and 22 percent within 20-30 years.
The survey, published Tuesday, was carried out in February among a “random sample” of over 1,600 Ukrainians living in various regions of the country, excluding territories occupied by Russia and the annexed Crimea peninsula.
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