A total of 39% of Ukrainians want closed borders with Russia / Photo from UNIAN

Some 41% of Ukrainians expressed a positive attitude toward Russians in February 2021, while about the same share, or 42%, expressed a negative attitude.

The situation has not changed significantly against September 2020, according to findings of a poll conducted by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

At the same time, 54% of the pollees in Russia expressed a positive attitude toward Ukrainians, while 31% said it was negative, according to a public opinion poll conducted by Russian NGO Levada Center.

Видео дня

The attitude in Russia toward Ukrainians has improved since the previous poll (August 2020).

Read alsoMost Ukrainians back sanctions against pro-Russian MP Medvedchuk – pollUkraine's independence from Russia is backed by 88% of Ukrainians and 80% of Russians, while 7% of Ukrainians and 17% of Russians want Ukraine's accession to Russia.

A total of 39% of Ukrainians want closed borders with Russia (against 23% of Russians), while the share of Ukrainians who want independent relations, but without borders and customs, is 49% (against 57% of Russians).

Polls: Details

  • Kyiv International Institute of Sociology conducted the survey on February 5-7 through computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI), using a random selection of cell numbers.
  • The sample is representative of the adult population (aged 18 and older). The survey was conducted in settlements across Ukraine with the exception of Russia-occupied Crimea and certain districts in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
  • The study involved 2,005 respondents.
  • The margin of error does not exceed 2.4% for indicators close to 50%, 2.1% for indicators close to 25%, 1.5% for indicators close to 10%, and 1.1% for indicators close to 5%.
  • Levada Center conducted the poll on February 18-24 on a representative all-Russian sample of the urban and rural population. A total of 1,601 people aged 18 and older were questioned in Russia through personal (face-to-face) interviews.
  • The margin of error does not exceed 3.4% for indicators close to 50%, 2.9% for indicators close to 25%, 2.0% for indicators close to 10%, and 1.5% for indicators close to 5%.
  • Disclaimer. This time the polls are not completely equivalent since Russia has conducted the research through face-to-face interviews, while Ukraine carried out phone interviews. Only the last two surveys in Ukraine were conducted by phone (in September 2020 and the current one), while all other polls were conducted through face-to-face interviews. "Therefore, we do not know whether we really have a drop in the positive attitude of Ukrainians toward Russia or whether this is due to the transition to phone-assisted polls," KIIS experts said.