Some 83% of Ukrainians support Ukrainian as only state language in country - study
Some 83% of Ukrainians are in favor of Ukrainian being the only state language in Ukraine, according to a study by the Rating Sociological Group.
"Over the past decade, there has been a constant growth in the number of those who consider Ukrainian as their native language: from 57% in 2012 to 76% in 2022. The Russian one has lost from 42% to 20% over ten years," the sociological group said in a statement based on results of the survey.
It is noted that there is also a constant decrease in the Russian-speaking segment of Ukrainians: in 2012 there were about 40% of such respondents, and at the beginning of the war there were 18% of them.
At the same time, the 'outflow' of Russian-speakers to the 'bilingual' segment occurs (from 15% to 32%), and the number of those who constantly use only Ukrainian at home increased slightly from 44% to 48%.
"The unprecedented unity of society against the backdrop of the war had a dramatic impact on attitudes towards the status of the language: today, an absolute majority (83%) is in favor of Ukrainian being the only state language in Ukraine. This opinion dominates in all macro-regions, age and language groups. On the other hand, before the war, almost a quarter were in favor of granting state status to the Russian language, and today only 7%," the report says.
Among other things, the study showed that today 67% believe that there are no problems between Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking citizens in Ukraine.
The survey was conducted on March 19, 2022 among 1,000 respondents over the age of 18 in all regions, except for the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas. Survey method: CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews - telephone interviews using a computer). The error is not more than 3.1%.