77% of Ukrainians say country should keep resisting even if Russia attacks energy grid this winter – KIIS survey
A majority of Ukrainians insist on continuing armed resistance even if Russia tries this winter to attack Ukraine's energy sector to leave people without electricity, heat and sewage service, according to a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).
"An overwhelming majority of Ukrainians — 77% — say that even if Russia tries this winter to attack the energy sector to leave people without electricity, heat and sewage, Ukraine should still continue armed resistance. At the same time, 12% believe that under such conditions Ukraine should agree to any Russian demands, even if those demands amount to capitulation. Another 11% were unable to decide," the survey report, released Tuesday, said.
Majorities in every region — ranging from 83% in Kyiv to 68% in eastern Ukraine — believe Ukraine should keep up armed resistance no matter what. Kyiv posted the highest share of any region, despite the continuing campaign of ballistic missile and jet-drone strikes.
Among those who distrust President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, fewer people insist on continuing armed resistance, though they still make up a majority: 65% favor continuing resistance, while 20% believe Ukraine should agree to any Russian demands. Another 15% were undecided.
Among those who trust Zelenskyy, 89% favor continuing armed resistance, while 5% are ready to accept peace on any terms, and 6% were undecided.
Among those who say they are currently serving in the military or are veterans, 85% insist on continuing resistance, 13% are willing to accept peace on any terms, and 1% were undecided.
Among those who have not served in the military, 77% chose to continue resistance, while 12% favor peace on any terms. Another 11% were undecided.
KIIS Executive Director Anton Hrushetskyi, commenting on the survey results, said regular polling shows a clear trend: since late July-early August, in Kyiv, despite the campaign of ballistic missile strikes, the share of people willing to endure the war for as long as necessary rose from 61% to 69%. The figure also rose nationwide.
"So in effect, Russia's terrorist actions have had the opposite effect on Ukrainians, who have only grown more convinced of the existential threat posed by the Russians and of the impossibility of 'peace on any terms.' Ukrainians are now bracing for another difficult winter (and yet another 'hardest one yet'). At the same time, going into this winter, Ukrainians already have the experience of last winter's prolonged frosts, which did not break their will to keep resisting — just as 4.5 years of full-scale war, with endless Russian war crimes, have not broken it at all. On the contrary, Ukrainians have once again shown their high resilience and, however tragic the circumstances, have gained new, important experience that strengthens their endurance. Beyond that, Ukrainians see the heroism and successes of the Defense Forces at the front and the effectiveness of Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory," Hrushetskyi said.
The survey was conducted from August 21 to September 10 using computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI), based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers across all regions of Ukraine, among 1,003 adult respondents who were living in government-controlled territory at the time of the survey. Under normal circumstances, the formal margin of error for such a sample (at a 0.95 confidence level, accounting for a design effect of 1.3) would not exceed 4.1% for indicators near 50% and 1.8% for indicators near 5%, though wartime conditions introduce an additional degree of systematic deviation.