More than 70% of Ukrainians think Ukraine needs peace, but not at any price – survey
There is a growing consensus in society that Ukraine needs peace, but not at any cost. Almost three quarters of respondents (76.3%) now agree with this, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine together with the Association of Political Psychologists of Ukraine.
As the organizers of the survey reported at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Wednesday, in 2023, two thirds (66.6%) thought so. On the other hand, the share of those who believe that a small disgrace is better than a big war (37%), as before the full-scale invasion, again outweighed the share of those who do not agree with this formulation of the question (28.6%). In 2023, this ratio was 18.3% to 45.4%, respectively.
There are significant regional differences in the perception of the choice between the shame of defeat and military resistance: among residents of the eastern regions, the number of those who now consider a small shame to be a better scenario for Ukraine than a major war exceeds half of the entire population of the region (53.3%). In the central and southern regions, this opinion is shared by less than a third of the population (28.7% and 30.2%, respectively).
The maximalist interpretation of victory - the return of all occupied territories, including Donbas and Crimea - was supported for the first time by less than half of respondents (48.5%) (in 2023 - 61.5%, in 2024 - 59.1%). At the same time, public opinion on this issue is extremely heterogeneous across regions: among respondents in the central regions, supporters of a maximalist victory make up significantly less than half (43.1%), and among residents of the east, there are only a third of such people (36.7%), while in the west and south - more than 60%. About 60% of respondents now agree with a more compromise vision of the future world - the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territories captured since February 24, 2022, the return of Crimea and Donbas through negotiations. In 2023, there were twice as many of them (30.4%), a year ago - one and a half times less (39.4%).
Not significantly, but the number of respondents who believe that those who evade mobilization can be understood - no one wants to die - has grown - from 54% in 2024 to 58.5% this year. But the share of respondents who are tolerant of evaders is noticeably higher than the share of those who are ashamed of the men who are hiding from mobilization today - 39% (in 2024, there were slightly more of them - 42.9%). Some respondents, obviously, condemn and tolerate evasion at the same time, which indicates a confused and contradictory attitude towards mobilization, at least among part of the population. The abovementioned trends towards demobilization of public opinion are, to some extent, compensated by the growth of support in our society for the restoration of Ukraine's nuclear status. The share of respondents who agree that Ukraine must restore its nuclear potential in order to ensure its sovereignty and territorial integrity has exceeded 50% for the second year in a row, reaching 57.1% this year. This is the highest figure for all years of observation.
The survey was conducted by the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine together with the Association of Political Psychologists of Ukraine using face-to-face interviews on March 15-25, 2025. Some 1,213 respondents aged 18 and older were interviewed in the territory controlled by the government of Ukraine. The sample represents the adult population of Ukraine. The sampling error is 3.2%.