Volodymyr Paniotto, Director General of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, explains the difference between the attitude of Ukrainians and Russians to the Victory Day, and reflects on how the war is changing the views of compatriots.

On May 8 and 9, Ukraine will mark the anniversary of the Second World War, the memory of which will be significantly transformed under the influence of the modern Russian-Ukrainian war. Meanwhile, Ukrainian society is debating which awards should be given, and one of the bills submitted to the Verkhovna Rada proposes to make May 9 Europe Day, depriving it of the status of Victory Day and the day off.

About 80% of Russians support the war against Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a "special operation." Such moods there are easily combined with public statements about "brotherly nations ".

Evidence of high support for the "special operation" is provided by the All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Research (ACPOR). This is a state structure that obviously works in the interests of the Kremlin.

However, independent analytical centers give a similar picture of Russian moods. For example, the “Levada Center” in its March poll shows that only 14% of Russians do not support the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine. On the other hand, 81% of respondents fully or partially support the invasion of the neighboring country.

In addition, a new poll shows that almost 60% of Russian citizens have a negative attitude towards Ukraine.

For many years, similar researches were conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in partnership with the “Levada Center”. Its leader, Volodymyr Paniotto, says a poll has not yet been conducted this year because of the war.

In an interview with BBC News Ukraine, he also told why even sociologists in Russia support the war, and how the bloody confrontation will change the political landscape of both countries.

The Board of the Sociological Association of Ukraine is deeply saddened to announce that on April 8, 2022, after a serious illness, our colleague and friend, Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Head of the Monitoring Research Department of Socio-Economic Transformations of the "Institute of Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine", Chairman of the Board of the NGO "Ukrainian Institute for Social Research named after  O. Yaremenko", Chairman of the Board of the NGO  "Center for Social Monitoring", Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journa "Ukrainian Society", Member of the Board of the Sociological Association of Ukraine, Chairman of the Commission on Professional Ethics of Sociologist - Member of the SAU OLHA BALAKIRIEVA and expresses sincere condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.

Dear friends and colleagues,
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We sincerely thank everyone who expressed their support to us in words or actions during these difficult times. We really appreciate it. We would like to inform you that the majority of KIIS team members are relatively safe and are doing everything possible to continue our work aimed at providing all interested sides with quality and reliable information.
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We are open to discus your requests for telephone or online surveys. We will probably have an Omnibus round soon. Please send us your inquiries so that we can assess the need for such a round.
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Unfortunately, it is hardly possible to conduct nationwide surveys through face-to-face interviews, but even such tasks can be performed in some regions and settlements.
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We wish peace to all of you, and especially security to those who stay in Ukraine. We are waiting for information from you. Please contact Victoria Zakhozha <victoria@kiis.com.ua> and Eugen Ilienko <ugin@kiis.com.ua>.

The readiness to offer armed resistance increased from 33.3% to 37.3%. In addition, from 21.7% to 25% increased readiness to resist by participating in civil resistance actions. In general, 57.5% of Ukrainians are ready to resist in one way or another, compared to 50.2% in December.