The press release contains the results of a joint project of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology and the Russian non-governmental research organization “Levada - Center”, which has been carried out since 2008. (“Levada - Center” autonomous non-profit organization has been forcibly included in the register of Russian non-profit organizations acting as foreign agent. Statement of the director of the “Levada - Center”, who does not agree with this decision, see here)

 

Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) during November 2-11, 2021, conducted its own all-Ukrainian public opinion poll "Omnibus". By the method of computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) based on a random sample of mobile telephone numbers (with random generation of telephone numbers and subsequent statistical weighing) were interviewed 2003 respondents living in all regions of Ukraine (except AR of Crimea). The sample is representative of the adult population (18 years and older) of Ukraine. The sample does not include territories that are temporarily not controlled by the authorities of Ukraine - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, some districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

In Luhansk and Donetsk regions, the survey was conducted only in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities.

Statistical sampling error (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.1) does not exceed: 2.4% for indicators close to 50%, 2.1% for indicators close to 25%, 1.5% - for indicators close to 10%, 1.1% - for indicators close to5%.   

 “Levada - Center”  conducted a survey  by a representative sample of the population of Russia, 1603 people aged 18 years and older, in the period from November 25 to December 1, 2021 by the method of personal interview.

The statistical error during the sample of 1603 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed: 3.4% for indicators close to 50%, 2.9% - for indicators close to 25% / 75%, 2.0% - for indicators close to 10% / 90%, and 1.5% - for indicators close to 5% / 95%

 

Summary

In Ukraine in February 2021, 39% of Ukrainians treated Russia well and 47% - badly. Compared to February 2021, there is a deterioration in attitudes towards Russia (in February, the ratio was 41% to 42%).

 In Russia, 45% of the population treated Ukraine well and 43% - badly. Compared to the previous wave of the survey, there is a significant deterioration in attitudes (previously 54% treated well, 31% - badly).

At the same time, the majority of respondents from both countries have a bad attitude towards the leadership of the neighboring country and a good attitude towards the ordinary population of these countries. At the same time, among the respondents who generally have a good attitude towards Russia, the majority have a bad attitude towards the Russian leadership. In other words, their positive attitude is a consequence of the fact that Russia is primarily associated with ordinary people. Moreover, 2 out of 5 respondents in Ukraine reported that they have close relatives in Russia.

88% of Ukrainians and 75% of Russians support Ukraine’s independence from Russia, and 6% of Ukrainians and 18% of Russians support Ukraine’s unification with Russia. The number of Ukrainians who want closed borders with Russia is 39% (and Russians - 24%), and the number of Ukrainians who want independent relations, but without borders and customs, is 49% (and Russians – 51%).

 

Attitude in Ukraine to Russia and in Russia to Ukraine

 

In the course of the research, Ukrainians were still asked a question "How do you feel about Russia in general now?" And "How do you feel about Ukraine in general now?"

During the entire observation period (except September 2019 and our latest data in February and November 2021), Ukrainians treated Russia better than Russians treated Ukraine (see  Graph 1). In September 2019, the attitude of Russians towards Ukraine was somewhat better, perhaps due to the expectation that the new Ukrainian government will change the attitude of Ukrainians to Russia.  After the annexation of Crimea and the start of hostilities in the Donbas, Ukrainians 'positive attitudes toward Russia fell sharply (from 90% to 30%), but after the end of active hostilities, Ukrainians' attitudes toward Russia improved somewhat again. Now, from the beginning of 2021, Russians treat Ukraine better than Ukrainians treat Russia (although between February and November 2021 there were fewer Russians who treat Ukraine well).

Methodological remark.  From April 2020, surveys are not completely equivalent, as in Russia surveys are conducted by the method of personal (face-to-face) interview, and in Ukraine by the method of telephone interview (computer-assisted telephone interviews).

 

Graph 1. Dynamics of good attitude of the population of Ukraine to Russia and Russia to Ukraine

 

 

• In Ukraine in November 2021, 39% of Ukrainians treated Russia well or very well, about 47% bad or very bad, 12% were undecided. Compared to February 2021, there is a general deterioration in attitude towards Russia. This may be due to Russia's escalation of the situation on Ukraine's borders.
• In Russia, 45% of the population treated Ukraine well or very well, 43% had a bad or very bad attitude, and 12% were undecided. Compared to February 2021, attitude has deteriorated markedly, as in February another 54% of Russians treated Ukraine well.   
• The attitude of Ukrainians to Russia significantly depends on the region: in the West 26% have a positive attitude to Russia, in the Center - 35%, in the South - 49%, in the East - 52%. The majority of those who have a negative attitude towards Russia are concentrated in the Western region (61%), the least - in the Eastern region (30%) (see table 2).   

 

In addition, respondents to study the issue in more depth were also asked a question "How do you feel about Russians (residents of Russia) in general now?" and "How do you feel about Russia's leadership in general now?". In the case of both countries there is a similar tendency, when respondents have a mostly good attitude to the population of the neighboring state and mostly bad - to the leadership of the neighboring state (at the same time, in Russia the attitude to the leadership of Ukraine and Ukrainians living in Ukraine is slightly better than in Ukraine to the leadership of Russia and Russians living in Russia).

At the same time, in the regional dimension, the attitude towards Russians living in Russia varies much less - from 71% of good attitude in the West to 82% in the East. Good attitude towards Russia's leadership is growing from 5% in the West to 27% in the East.

 

 Graph2. Attitudes of respondents separately to the leadership and separately to the population of another state

 

 

Graph 3 shows the data how the leadership of Russia and the Russians are treated by those who generally treat Russia well or badly. Respondents-Ukrainians who generally have a good attitude towards Russia, almost all (95%) have a good attitude towards Russians-residents of Russia. At the same time, only 29% of them have a good attitude towards the Russian leadership. At the same time, among Ukrainian respondents who generally have a bad attitude towards Russia, 95% have a bad attitude towards the Russian leadership, but 59% have a good attitude towards Russians living in Russia.

Obviously, for some respondents the question of the general attitude towards Russia is primarily associated with the leadership of Russia and, as a result, such respondents are more likely to say about bad attitude. For the rest of the respondents, "Russia" is primarily associated with ordinary Russians, so they are more likely to have a generally good attitude towards Russia.

 

Graph3. Attitude of Ukrainians towards the Russian leadership and Russians living in Russia, depending on how they treat Russia in general

 

 

Presence of close relatives in Russia and connection with the attitude to Russia

 

43% of respondents said that they have close relatives in Russia (another 14% said that they have relatives in Russia, but they do not consider them close). The share of respondents who have such relatives is growing from 33% in the West to 53% in the East.

 

Graph4. Distribution of answers to the question "Do you have close relatives in Russia?"

 

 

Graph 5 shows how those who have and do not have close relatives treat Russia in general. As you can see, first of all, those who have relatives have a better attitude towards Russia in general. At the same time, this tendency persists within each region separately. In both the West and the East, respondents who have close relatives in Russia are better at Russia in general than other residents of the same region but who do not have such relatives. Secondly, even with this factor in mind, there is a tendency for attitudes towards Russia to improve from West to East.

 

Graph5. Attitude of Ukrainians towards Russia in terms of having close relatives in Russia

 

 

Opinions of Ukrainians on whether ordinary Russians can influence the policy of the Russian leadership

 

The vast majority of Ukrainians (76% in total, 73-77% depending on the region) believe that ordinary people in Russia have no influence on the policy of Russia's leadership.

 

Graph6. Distribution of answers to the question "Do you think ordinary Russians have an influence on the policy of the Russian leadership towards Ukraine?"

 

 

Graph 7 shows the general attitude towards Russia of those who believe that ordinary people in Russia have an influence on Russia's leadership, as well as those who believe that they do not. In the West and in the Center, there is a tendency for a slightly better attitude among those who do not believe that ordinary people have an influence. At the same time, in the South and East, the tendency is reversed - those who believe that ordinary people have an influence have a slightly better attitude.

 

Graph7. Attitude of Ukrainians towards Russia in terms of whether ordinary Russians have an influence on the policy of the Russian leadership

 

 

Figure 8 shows the data as for the relationship with the attitude towards Russians living in Russia. In this case, the tendency for the West and the Center is more pronounced that those who believe that ordinary people have an influence on the leadership have a worse attitude towards Russians living in Russia.

 

Graph8. Attitude of Ukrainians towards Russians living in Russia in terms of whether ordinary Russians have an influence on the policy of the Russian leadership

 

 

 

Opinions of Ukrainians as to what relations between Ukraine and Russia should be

 

Dynamics of answers to the question "How would you like to see Ukraine's relations with Russia?"

• Compared to February 2021, the level of support for Ukraine's independence (percentage of those who believe that Ukraine should be independent of Russia) remains approximately the same – 88% (was as many), this indicator has not practically changed since 2014. The number of those who want closed borders with Russia is 39%, and the number of those who want independent relations, but without borders and customs, is 49%. Would like to unite into one state 6%.
• In Russia, compared to February 2021, the share of those wishing to close the borders with Ukraine has not changed (was 23%, became 24%), but the share of those who do not want visas and borders has decreased (was 57%, became 51%) . The number of those who want to unite into one state has hardly changed - 18% now and 17% before.

 

Graph9. What kind of relations with Russia do want in Ukraine?* 

 

* The line on the graph "Ukraine and Russia should be independent" is the sum of the first two columns in Table 6, ie the percentage of those who want independence with borders and customs, and those who want independence but without borders and customs (see tables below).

 

 

Annex 1. Formulation and order of questions from the questionnaire

 

How would you like to see Ukraine's relations with Russia?  ONE ANSWER

Ukraine's relations with Russia should be the same as with other countries - with closed borders, visas, customs	1
Ukraine and Russia should be independent but friendly states - with open borders, without visas and customs	2
Ukraine and Russia must unite into one state	3
DS/NR	9

 

How do you feel about Russia in general now?

very well	1	mostly bad	3	DIFFICULT TO SAY/REFUSAL TO ANSWER	9
mostly well	2	very bad	4

 

How do you feel about Russians in general now)?

very well	1	mostly bad	3	DIFFICULT TO SAY/REFUSAL TO ANSWER	9
mostly well	2	very bad	4

 

 How do you feel about the Russian leadership in general now?

very well	1	mostly bad	3	DIFFICULT TO SAY/REFUSAL TO ANSWER	9
mostly well	2	very bad	4

 

Do you think that ordinary Russians have an influence on the policy of the Russian leadership towards Ukraine?

Yes, have

1

No, do not have

2

DIFFICULT TO SAY/REFUSAL TO ANSWER

9

 

 Do you have close relatives in Russia?

Yes, have	1	No, do not have	3
Have relatives, but don't consider them close	2	DIFFICULT TO SAY/REFUSAL TO ANSWER	4

 

 

 

Annex 2. Composition of the regions of Ukraine

 

 

Western macroregion - Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Chernivtsi regions;

 

Central macroregion – Kyiv city, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Sumy, Cherkasy, Chernihiv regions;

 

Southern macroregion - Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kherson regions;

 

Eastern macroregion - Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk regions (districts controlled by Ukraine)

 

 

 

Annex 3. TABLES

 

Table 1. How do you feel about Ukraine/Russia in general now?  

IN UKRAINE TO RUSSIA feel, %					IN RUSSIA TO UKRAINE feel, %
Date	very good/ mostly good	mostly bad/ very bad	DIFFICULT TO SAY	TOTAL	Date	very good/ mostly good	mostly bad/ very bad	DIFFICULT TO SAY	TOTAL
Apr.08	88	7	5	100	Mar.08	55	33	12	100
Sep.08	88	9	3	100	Sep.08	38	53	10	100
Feb.09	91	5	4	100	Jan.09	29	62	10	100
May.09	93	4	3	100	May.09	33	56	11	100
Oct.09	92	6	3	100	Sep.09	46	44	10	100
Mar.10	90	6	4	100	Mar.10	59	29	12	100
Jun.10	92	6	3	100	Jul.10	70	22	9	100
Oct.10	93	4	3	100	Oct.10	67	21	12	100
Nov.11	80	13	7	100	Sep.11	68	23	9	100
Feb.12	85	9	6	100	Jan.12	64	25	12	100
Sep.12	83	11	6	100	Sep.12	74	17	10	100
Feb.13	85	8	7	100	Feb.13	69	21	9	100
May.13	81	10	9	100	May.13	72	18	9	100
Nov.13	82	10	8	100	Sep.13	69	22	8	100
Feb.14	78	13	9	100	Jan.14	66	26	9	100
May.14	52	38	10	100	May.14	35	49	17	100
Sep.14	48	41	11	100	Sep.14	32	55	13	100
Dec.14	37	48	16	100	Jan.15	24	63	13	100
Feb.15	34	51	15	100	Mar.15	31	56	13	100
May.15	30	56	14	100	May.15	26	59	14	100
Sep.15	34	53	13	100	Sep.15	33	56	11	100
Feb.16	36	47	13	100	Feb.16	27	59	14	100
May.16	42	43	15	100	May.16	39	47	13	100
Sep.16	40	46	14	100	Sep.16	26	56	17	100
Dec.16	40	47	13	100	Dec.16	34	54	13	100
Feb.17	39	46	15	100	Jan.17	34	54	13	100
May.17	44	37	19	100	May.17	26	59	15	100
Sep.17	37	46	17	100	Sep.17	32	53	15	100
Dec.17	42	39	19	100	Dec.17	28	56	17	100
Feb.18	45	38	18	100	Mar.18	33	55	12	100
Sep.18	48	32	19	100	Sep.18	33	56	12	100
Feb.19	57	27	17	100	Feb.19	34	55	10	100
Sep.19	54	35	11	100	Sep.19	56	31	13	100
Feb.20	54	33	13	100	Jan.20	41	47	12	100
Sep.20	42	42	16	100	Aug.20	48	43	9	100
Feb.21	41	42	17	100	Feb.21	54	31	13	100
Nov.21	39	47	14	100	Nov.21	45	43	12	100

 

Table 2. How do you feel about Russia in general now? 

                    Distribution by regions, November 2021, %

	Ukraine as a whole, %	Western	Central	Southern	Eastern
Very good	5	1	4	8	11
Mostly good	33	25	31	41	41
Mostly bad	22	25	26	19	14
Very bad	25	37	26	16	16
DIFFICULT TO SAY / REFUSAL TO ANSWER	14	12	13	15	18
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100

 

 

 

 

Table3. How do you feel about Russians (residents of Russia) in general now? 

                    Distribution by regions, November 2021, %

	Ukraine as a whole, %	Western	Central	Southern	Eastern
Very good	15	8	13	19	24
Mostly good	61	63	59	63	58
Mostly bad	11	14	15	8	4
Very bad	3	4	3	3	3
DIFFICULT TO SAY / REFUSAL TO ANSWER	10	12	9	8	11
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100

 

Table4. How do you feel about the Russian leadership in general now? 

                    Distribution by regions, November 2021, %

	Ukraine as a whole, %	Western	Central	Southern	Eastern
Very good	2	1	2	2	3
Mostly good	11	4	9	15	23
Mostly bad	20	18	20	23	22
Very bad	55	69	61	45	34
DIFFICULT TO SAY / REFUSAL TO ANSWER	11	8	8	14	17
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100

 

Table5. Do you think that ordinary Russians have an influence on the policy of the Russian leadership towards Ukraine? 

                    Distribution by regions, November 2021,%

	Ukraine as a whole, %	Western	Central	Southern	Eastern
Yes, have	18	18	18	17	19
No, do not have	76	75	77	77	73
DIFFICULT TO SAY / REFUSAL TO ANSWER	6	6	5	6	8
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100

 

Table6. Do you have close relatives in Russia? 

                    Distribution by regions, November 2021,%

	Ukraine as a whole, %	Western	Central	Southern	Eastern
Yes, have	43	33	41	50	53
Have relatives, but don't consider them close	14	11	16	13	14
No, do not have	43	55	42	36	32
DIFFICULT TO SAY / REFUSAL TO ANSWER	1	1	0	0	1
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100

 

Table7. How would you like to see Ukraine's relations with Russia? 

 

	IN UKRAINE
Date	They should be the same as with other states - with closed borders, visas, customs	Ukraine and Russia should be independent but friendly states - with open borders, without visas and customs	Ukraine and Russia must unite into one state	Difficult to say	Total
Apr.08	10	67	20	3	100
Sep.08	17	66	16	2	100
Feb.09	8	68	23	1	100
May.09	10	65	23	2	100
Oct.09	11	67	19	3	100
Mar.10	11	67	19	3	100
Jun.10	12	70	16	2	100
Oct.10	10	67	20	2	100
Nov.11	13	67	16	1	100
Feb.12	13	69	16	2	100
Sep.12	11	72	14	3	100
Feb.13	13	68	16	3	100
May.13	11	69	14	5	100
Nov.13	12	73	9	6	100
Feb.14	15	68	12	5	100
May.14	32	54	8	5	100
Sep.14	45	44	5	6	100
Dec.14	50	42	3	5	100
Feb.15	48	43	4	6	100
May.15	45	46	2	7	100
Sep.15	46	45	2	7	100
Feb.16	42	43	4	11	100
May.16	44	44	3	9	100
Sep.16	49	43	3	6	100
Dec.16	45	46	3	7	100
Feb.17	47	43	2	7	100
May.17	43	47	4	6	100
Sep.17	49	40	4	8	100
Dec.17	45	40	4	11	100
Feb.18	44	44	3	9	100
Sep.2018	38	50	4	8	100
Feb.2019	39	48	4	9	100
Sep.2019	41	49	3	7	100
Feb.2020	39	51	3	7	100
Sep.2020	39	51	5	5	100
Feb.2021	39	49	6	6	100
Nov.2021	39	49	6	6	100

 

 

 

	IN RUSSIA
Date	They should be the same as with other states - with closed borders, visas, customs	Russia and Ukraine should be independent but friendly states - with open borders, without visas and customs	Ukraine and Russia must unite into one state	Difficult to say	Total
Mar.08	19	56	19	6	100
Sep. 08	24	52	13	11	100
Jan. 09	29	51	12	8	100
Jun. 09	25	55	14	6	100
Sep. 09	25	55	13	7	100
Jan. 10	25	55	14	6	100
May. 10	17	64	13	6	100
Sep. 10	16	60	18	6	100
Sep.11	16	63	14	6	100
Jan.12	16	61	16	8	100
Sep.12	14	60	20	6	100
Feb.13	13	64	18	6	100
May.13	19	58	15	8	100
Sep.13	23	55	16	6	100
Jan.14	19	59	16	6	100
May.14	28	54	12	6	100
Sep.14	26	62	7	5	100
Jan. 15	32	53	7	8	100
May.15	30	54	10	6	100
Sep.15	25	59	8	7	100
Feb.16	32	52	11	5	100
May.16	36	53	7	4	100
Sep.16	39	48	8	6	100
Dec.16	33	53	9	5	100
Jan.17	33	53	9	5	100
May.17	35	50	9	5	100
Sep.17	34	49	11	6	100
Dec.17	33	49	10	8	100
Mar.18	39	45	10	5	100
Sep.2018	32	45	16	6	100
Feb.2019	25	52	17	6	100
Sep.2019	23	54	19	4	100
Jan.2020	26	56	15	3	100
Aug.2020	30	51	16	3	100
Feb.2021	23	57	17	4	100
Nov.2021	24	51	18	7	100

 

 

Table8. How would you like to see Ukraine's relations with Russia?

 Distribution by regions, November 2021,%