More than 80 percent of Ukrainians are against giving up territory in exchange for a peace deal with Russia, according to a poll released Tuesday by the kyiv Institute of International Sociology.
Globally, 82% of respondents believe that such concessions should not be made under any circumstanceseven at the risk of prolonging the war, while 10% consider it permissible to “abandon” territories to achieve peace more quickly or to preserve Ukraine’s independence.
Nevertheless, the percentage varies by region and in the east of the countryscene of intense fighting, 68% of those surveyed oppose the cession of territories, while 19% support this possibility.
The institute’s sociologists stressed that of the people living in territories occupied by the Russian army or by pro-Russian forces after the start of the invasion on February 24, 77% are against concessions, while 18% are willing to make them.
Of the people who fled the occupied territories after the start of the war, only 5% admit the cession of territories.
The survey, with a sample of 2,000 people, all residents of the territories controlled by Ukraine before February 24 – that is, excluding the Crimean peninsula and part of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions – was carried out between February 13 and 15. of May.
Russia launched an ongoing military offensive in Ukraine on February 24 that has killed more than 3,000 civilians, according to the UN, which warns the true number is likely to be much higher.
The offensive has already caused more than 14 million people to flee their homes -some eight million internally displaced persons and more than 6.3 million to neighboring countries-, according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War. World War (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and tightening economic and political sanctions on Moscow.
Source: Observadora
