Survey of the state of public opinion in the de-occupied territory of Ukraine

At the end of last year, the "Strategiko" Analytical Group together with the Representation of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Ukraine did a survey of the state of public opinion in the de-occupied territory of Ukraine.

Here are some key findings from the study:

• The most urgent problem for residents of all de-occupied territories is destroyed housing. This is reported by 73% of the surveyed respondents.

• For residents of the southern region, in particular Kherson and the Kherson region, shelling and rocket-bomb attacks are the most acute problem. 85% of respondents said this.

• The next most significant problem, according to 64% of respondents, is mining of objects and territories. Today, more than 170,000 square kilometers of the territory of Ukraine are potentially contaminated. More than 6 million citizens are at risk due to mines and unexploded ordnance.

• Due to the large number of mined agricultural lands and industrial facilities, the next problem is logical - difficulties with employment. This was said by 63% of the respondents.

The study was conducted from May to September 2023 with the aim of:

• Studying the experiences and problems of people who lived in the temporarily occupied territories.

• Assessing the impact of the occupation on their lives and well-being.

• Understanding their needs and expectations for the future.

In a qualitative study, 75 respondents over the age of 18 were interviewed. The sample population of the quantitative study is 1,085 people over 18 years of age in cities and villages liberated from occupation in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions. The field stage lasted from August 1 to August 28, 2023.

The overall results of the study show that a significant number of residents of the liberated territories maintain a moderate optimistic view of life and understand the problems caused by the realities of the war. At the same time, there is a certain disappointment, primarily due to shortcomings in solving the urgent problems of residents, the lack of a clear patriotic position of some local politicians, the impunity of collaborators.

The authors of the study are Oleksandr Gladunov and Natalya Bohdanets.

You can read more about the results of the study in the report