For the first time in years of observation, the number of respondents who believe that to ensure its own sovereignty and territorial integrity, Ukraine must restore its nuclear potential has exceeded 50%.

This is evidenced by the data of a survey, conducted by the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine together with the Association of Political Psychologists of Ukraine on March 1 through March 15, 2024 and presented at Interfax-Ukraine. In addition to the regional context, these studies were differentiated based on the political commitment of the respondents: supporters of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Valeriy Zaluzhny and Petro Poroshenko.

According to A press release based on the results of the study, "less than 15% do not agree with the idea of restoring Ukraine's nuclear status, and another 31.1% do not have a clear answer. Residents of the south are most decisive on this issue (almost 75% support the restoration of nuclear potential and 19% – no) and the West (62% and 6.8%, respectively). Among Zelenskyy's supporters, 64.3% agree with the need to restore the nuclear potential, and Poroshenko – less than 40%."

The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews. A total of 2,000 respondents aged 18 years and older were surveyed in Ukrainian-controlled territory. The sample represents the adult population of Ukraine. The sampling error is 3.2%.

The survey of regional differences in public opinion is performed based on the consolidation the regions into four macro-regions: Western (Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Chernivtsi regions); Central (Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Sumy, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, Chernihiv regions, and the city of Kyiv); Eastern (Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Luhansk, Kharkiv regions); Southern (Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kherson regions). The data are also differentiated by the political allegiance of respondents based on the distribution of answers to the question "If presidential elections were to be held in Ukraine due to the end of the current president’s term and the below-mentioned individuals were running, who would you vote for?". The choice of alternatives "Volodymyr Zelensky", "Valeriy Zaluzhny", and "Petro Poroshenko" collectively covers 53% of the sample.

The February 2022 monitoring data, with which the current survey results are compared, was obtained on the eve of the full-scale invasion.