More and more Ukrainians don't want the return of the Soviet Union. After the start of a full-scale Russian invasion, their number continues to grow.
The proclamation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics took place almost 100 years ago – on December 30, 1922. Although formally the USSR was a union of sovereign states, in fact, all power was concentrated in the union center.
About 90% of Ukrainians are against the return of the Soviet Union
The sociological service of the Razumkov Center conducted a survey of Ukrainians in September-October 2022. Among the questions is how they relate to the USSR.
The results obtained were compared with those in previous years.
- In 2000, only slightly more than half, 53% of respondents, they answered unequivocally that they were not striving to restore the Soviet Union.
- In 2021, the share of such people was already 69%.
- According to a survey in 2022 – 87%.
Only 3% of respondents definitely want the restoration of the USSR, while in 2000 there were 19% of them, and in 2021 – 10%.
Another 11% of respondents answered “yes, but I understand that in modern conditions it is unrealistic.” In 2000, there were 28.5% of such people, and in 2021 – 21%.
The share of those who would not want the restoration of the USSR in the South and East of Ukraine is somewhat lower than in the West – 72% and 81% versus 93% and 89%. Despite this, in all regions, opponents of the restoration of the USSR make up the vast majority.
By age, they are divided as follows:
- among the representatives of the older age group, those who would not want the restoration of the Soviet Union are 74.5%,
- among those under 30 years old, this proportion rises to 95%.
In turn, among those who speak Russian in the family, this proportion is 79%, and among those who speak Ukrainian – 90%.
How the survey was conducted
The opinion poll was conducted with the support of the Representative Office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Ukraine from September 22 to October 1, 2022. Respondents were interviewed face-to-face in:- Kyiv,
- Vinnytsia,
- Volynsky,
- Dnipropetrovsk,
- Zhytomyr,
- Transcarpathian,
- Zaporozhye,
- Ivano-Frankivsk,
- Kyiv,
- Kirovograd,
- Lviv,
- Nikolaev,
- Odessa,
- Poltava,
- Rivne,
- Sumy,
- Ternopil,
- Kharkov,
- Khmelnytsky,
- Cherkasy ,
- Chernihiv,
- Chernivtsi region.
In Zaporozhye, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv regions, specialists worked only in those territories controlled by the government of Ukraine and where hostilities do not continue.
The survey was conducted in 112 settlements – 57 urban and 55 rural. In 2021, a respondent over the age of 18 took part in it. The sampling error without taking into account the design effect does not exceed 2.3%. At the same time, additional systematic deviations of the sample may be due to the consequences of Russian aggression, in particular, the forced evacuation of millions of Ukrainians.
