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Most residents of three Ukrainian cities with a population of over one million consider themselves patriots and are proud of being Ukrainians.

As evidenced by data from a public opinion poll conducted in Lviv, Odesa and Kharkiv on the eve of Independence Day by the Social Monitoring Center and the Ukrainian Institute for Social Research, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.

Answering a question whether they consider themselves patriots of Ukraine, 86% of Lviv residents, 64% of Odesa residents and 62% of Kharkiv residents answered in the affirmative.

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Some 85% of Lviv residents, 68% of respondents from Odesa and 65% of Kharkiv residents are proud to be Ukrainians. Only 2% of Lviv residents, 10% of respondents in Odesa and 8% of respondents in Kharkiv think opposite.

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According to the poll, Lviv residents feel more like citizens of Ukraine than residents of their city (59% and 26% respectively), while Kharkiv and Odesa residents feel more like residents of their city than citizens of Ukraine (45% and 39% respectively in Kharkiv, and 43% and 38% in Odesa).

Regarding the meaning of the Independence Day celebration, 40% of respondents in Odesa and 31% in Kharkiv residents agree with an idea that this is about celebrating independence from any other states, 39% of respondents in Lviv, with this.

Some 17% of Lviv residents, 32% of those in Odesa and 39% of the residents of Kharkiv see the Independence Day celebration just as a tribute to the tradition.

At the same time, 38% of polled Lviv residents, 48% of Odesa respondents and 59% of Kharkiv residents agreed that there is no need to seek any "deep meaning" in the celebration of Independence Day. A total of 57% of respondents from Lviv, 44% from Odesa and 28% from Kharkiv disagree with this statement.

The survey was conducted on August 8-13, 2018 through personal formalized (face-to-face) interviews. The margin of error is +/- 4.5%. Some 600 respondents aged 18 and above were interviewed in Odesa and Lviv each and 800 people in Kharkiv.