Almost 50% of Ukrainians see Russian invasion threat as real

Some 49.2% of Ukrainians believe the threat of Russia's invasion is real, while 41.4% think the opposite.

That’s according to an all-Ukrainian public opinion poll run by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on December 13-16, 2021, Ukrinform reports.

At the same time, the poll says the majority of respondents, 57.8%, consider insufficient Ukraine’s diplomatic and defense to hinder possible incursion by Russia. Another 27.1% suggest such efforts have been sufficient.

At the same time, the majority of respondents, 58.1%, believe that negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin should be conducted only with Ukraine’s Western partners at the table. Another 26.6% of respondents believe that any direct talks between President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would be an effective way to achieve peace.

In addition, the vast majority of those polled do not believe that direct talks between Zelensky and Putin will lead to Ukraine regaining control of the illegally annexed Crimea (84.4%) and the occupied part of Donbas (66.3%).

KIIS conducted the survey using computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) based on a random sampling of mobile phone numbers. A total of 1,203 respondents were polled across all regions except the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

The sample is representative of the adult population (18 years and older). The sample does not include territories that are temporarily beyond the control of the Ukrainian authorities – the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

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