The ways of achieving peace in the Donbas: Public attitudes, expectations and concerns

Abstract

The paper presents the findings of a recent (4–19 November 2019) nationwide survey conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv “Democratic Initiatives” Charitable Foundation jointly with the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. In total, 2,041 people aged over 18 were questioned about their perceptions of an ongoing armed conflict in the Donbas and views on the possible ways of restoring peace in this territory. For this purpose, a number of questions were asked including a person’s opinion on the main objective of Russian intervention in the Donbas, acceptability (or unacceptability) of some compromises for the sake of establishing peace in this region, the respondent’s attitude towards the withdrawal of military forces, ideas about the political future of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics”, etc. The study covered all Ukraine’s regions, except for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and non-government controlled areas in the East.