KYIV, UKRAINE, Dec 12 — 7% of respondents consider Russia too strong, regardless of the support of Ukraine’s partners.

While 87% of Ukrainians believe that if the West supports Ukraine with weapons, finance, and sanctions, it will be able to cause Russia to fail and achieve an acceptable result. This is according to a study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.

In all regions, the vast majority of people support this thesis. In particular, in the East, 79% of them do, and in the South – 85%. In the West, 88% of respondents agree with this opinion; in the Centre, the highest number is 90%.

As a reminder, three-quarters of Ukrainians are convinced that the country will be able to rebuild in 10 years but believe that corruption may be the most significant risk to recovery. The same applies to economic recovery – 70% believe this process will take up to 10 years or more.

The majority of respondents (58%) are inclined to believe that even in the event of a significant reduction in Western aid, it is still worth continuing hostilities to put pressure on the occupiers, even considering the risks to the territories currently controlled by Ukraine.

At the same time, every third respondent (32%) believes that it is better to stop hostilities under conditions of really serious security guarantees from the West, even if the liberation of the occupied territories is delayed indefinitely. The remaining 10% were undecided.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, many Western politicians, experts and journalists have been surprised by the optimism of Ukrainians. One of the main factors that psychologically supported Ukrainians and allowed them to look to the future more confidently was the West’s support.

Ukrainians did not feel alone in the fight against Russia but considered the struggle a common cause. For instance, in September 2022, against the backdrop of the successful Kharkiv operation, 80% of Ukrainians considered the success of the Ukrainian army to be a joint achievement and a joint result of the actions of Ukraine and the West. In February 2023, 81% of Ukrainians believed that cooperation between Ukraine and the West to counter Russian aggression was a “win-win” situation, with Ukraine and the West benefiting.

From 29 November to 9 December 2023, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted its all-Ukrainian public opinion poll, Omnibus. Using the method of computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers (with random generation of phone numbers and subsequent statistical weighting), 1031 respondents living in all regions of Ukraine (except for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea) were interviewed. The survey was conducted with adult citizens of Ukraine (aged 18 and older) residing in Ukraine at the time of the survey (within the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities until 24 February 2022). The sample did not include residents of the territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities until 24 February 2022 (the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts), and the survey was not conducted with citizens abroad.

US Aid Delay to Ukraine

The allocation of additional aid to Ukraine is supported by a majority of the US Congress in both chambers, both Republicans and Democrats, according to lawmakers. The main controversy now lies in the format of the bill’s introduction for a vote.

Democrats demand voting for everything as a package: funding for assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, along with strengthening US border security with Mexico.

Republicans, on the other hand, are calling for each bill to be considered separately, and for aid to Ukraine to be combined with US border issues and stricter migration laws.

Most lawmakers from both parties argue that this is a way of putting pressure on the Biden Administration to pay more attention to the migration crisis.

More from Gwara

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