Nearly a quarter — 23 percent — of adult Ukrainians want to emigrate, according to a nationwide survey by Liberty Report.
The survey of 1,500 respondents 18 and older and 200 respondents aged 14-17 also asked about the country’s handling of the coronavirus people’s fear of Russia seizing more territory from Ukraine and their drinking habits during the pandemic.
Thirty-five percent of younger respondents say they want to leave Ukraine for permanent residency in another country.
Half of the people aged 14-17 who want to leave are in eastern Ukraine, close to war-torn Donbas. Only 20% of young respondents who want to emigrate are from western Ukraine.
Adult Ukrainians’ most desired destinations are the United States and Canada, followed by the European Union.
In other findings, 63 percent of adult women and half of the adult men fear that Russia may take over more of Ukraine. In 2014, Russia illegally invaded and annexed the Crimean peninsula, while its proxies occupied a large part of the Donbas.
Ukraine’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic is considered a “failure” by 53% of adult Ukrainians, while 34% consider it “satisfactory,” and only 3% say the government’s job was a “success”.
Men and people aged 60 and older tend to think that Ukraine’s fight against the pandemic was a failure.
Almost half of the Ukrainian adults believe that Ukraine’s Health Minister Maksym Stepanov is responsible for the country’s failed response while 23 percent blame President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Only 6% of respondents started consuming more alcohol since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic while 20 percent say they have started drinking less.
