More than half Ukrainians polled are convinced Russia and Russia-led fighters started the war with Ukraine, with an equal amount convinced there was no real basis for introducing martial law in ten Ukrainian regions. These are the results of a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).
According to the results of the survey released at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday, 51.8 percent of Ukrainians are sure that so-called separatists and Russia started the war, 16.6 percent – that the Ukrainian authorities and oligarchs are to blame, with 34.9 percent finding it difficult to answer.
At the same time, 44.4 percent of respondents said Russian border guards attacked Ukrainian naval sailors in the Kerch Strait area in November 2018, while 19 percent believe that the Ukrainian sailors provoked an attack by the Russians in the Kerch Strait. Some 36.6 percent were undecided.
At the same time, 51.9 percent of respondents said that the announcement of the legal status of martial law in 10 regions of Ukraine following the seizure of Ukrainian courts had no real basis. Some 24.1 percent of respondents said the measure was a reasonable precaution, while 24.1 percent of Ukrainians found it difficult to answer.
Some 38.4 percent of respondents agree that Ukrainian-speaking residents are persecuted in Russia-occupied Crimea. Some 15.5 percent said Russian speakers are persecuted in Ukraine, while 46.1 percent of respondents found it difficult to answer the question.
The survey, titled “Sources of Information, Media Literacy and Russian Propaganda,” was conducted by KIIS from February 9 to February 20, 2019 throughout Ukraine, except for in Russia-occupied territories. Some 2,042 respondents were interviewed using a personal interview method. The statistical error of the sample does not exceed 3.3 percent for indicators close to 50 percent, 2.8 percent for indicators close to 25 percent or 75 percent, 2 percent for indicators close to 12 percent or 88 percent, 1.4 percent for indicators close to 5 percent or 95 percent and 0.7 percent for indicators close to 1 percent or 99 percent.
