Most Ukrainians reject giving Russia all of Donbas. Support for resistance on rose to 62% after new US pressure, poll finds
The share ready to endure the war climbed as Washington eased Russian sanctions and cut Ukraine’s intelligence, and as Russia hammered its cities.
A majority of Ukrainians reject handing all of Donbas to Russia for US and European security guarantees, according to a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. Despite recent US pressure, including the easing of sanctions on Russian diesel and increased speed for Ukraine's intelligence and Starlink, 62% of respondents stated they were willing to endure the war for as long as necessary.
Only 10% of those polled believe the conflict will end by the end of 2026, while 56% expect it to continue into the second half of 2027 or beyond. The survey found that 35% of Ukrainians would accept the withdrawal of troops from Donbas, while 4% were undecided, a position that remained largely unchanged since late summer. In every region, at least half of respondents reject the trade, with the highest resistance in Kyiv, where 66% oppose the deal.
The poll also revealed that 78% of Ukrainians believe Russia's aggression is the primary obstacle to peace, with only 12% blaming an inflexible Ukrainian government. KIIS executive director Anton Hrushetskyi emphasized that Ukrainians need "packages of interceptors for Patriot systems" to withstand the enemy's ballistic missile and drone strikes, rather than one-sided concessions.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
