The vast majority of Ukrainians (83%) are in favor of Ukrainian being the only state language in Ukraine, as it is now, according to the results of the nationwide poll, named "Language Issue in Ukraine," conducted by the Rating sociological group on March 19.

Some 7% of Ukrainians are now in favor of granting state status to the Russian language, and another 8% are in favor of the official status of Russian in certain regions, and before the war (the survey was conducted in September 2021) there were 22% and 12%, respectively.

Supporters of Russian as the second state language are the most in east regions of Ukraine (19%) and southern (13%), while in central and western areas of the country 3% and 1%, respectively. Supporters of Russian as a regional language were surveyed as follows: 15% in eastern regions, 9% in southern regions, 8% in central regions and 5% in western regions of Ukraine. There are twice as many supporters of giving the Russian language the status of a second state and regional language among the older age groups (51+ years) than among all the rest.

At the same time, even among those who indicated Russian as the only language of communication at home, 22% of respondents spoke in favor of Russian as the second state language, and 15% in favor of the regional language, while 63% voted for the Ukrainian only state language.

The language picture in Ukraine has not changed over the past six months: 76% of Ukrainians called Ukrainian their native language, 20% Russian (in August 2021 - 77% and 21%, respectively, changes within the margin of error). Ukrainian was named native by 95% of the inhabitants of the west of the country, 84% of the center, 61% of the south, 42% of the east; native Russian - 3% of the inhabitants of the west, 15% of the center, 32% of the south and 49% of the east of Ukraine.

Only Ukrainian was named as the home language of communication by 48% of respondents, only Russian - by 18%, both languages - by 33%. At the same time, of those who speak only Ukrainian at home, 99% of respondents have their native Ukrainian, and 1% said Russian. Of those who speak both Russian and Ukrainian at home, 71% have Ukrainian as their native language, and 23% have Russian. Of those who speak only Russian at home, 27% of respondents have their native Ukrainian, 66% Russian.

At the same time, 60% of the respondents, who speak both Russian and Ukrainian at home, said that they intend to switch to Ukrainian only in the near future (36% are not ready). Among those who now communicate only in Russian, 34% of respondents intend to switch to Ukrainian, while 60% are not ready.

Some 67% of respondents believe that there are no problems between Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking citizens in Ukraine. 19% believe that the language problem exists, but it is not so important. Only 12% believe, however, that this issue poses a threat to internal security. At the same time, theses about the existence of a problem in the language sphere are popular not among the Russian-speaking population, but in the western regions, where Ukrainian dominates in all areas.

In the course of the study, 1,000 respondents over 18 years of age and older were interviewed using the CATI method (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews - telephone interviews using a computer) in all areas, except for the temporarily occupied territories. The sample is representative in terms of age, gender, and type of settlement. The margin of error of the study does not exceed 3.1%.