Just as last year, Ukrainians trust the people who protect them above all else - the AFU and other units of the Defense Forces. They also believe in victory and in Ukraine’s ability to assist NATO in the event of an attack by the Russian Federation.

These results of the sociological study “On War and Peace,” conducted by the Oleksandr Razumkov Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies and commissioned by the Kyiv Security Forum, were presented by the President of the Razumkov Centre, Yuriy Yakymenko, during the 18th annual KSF themed “Darkness or Dawn: Is Light Ahead?”

“The majority of Ukrainians evaluate the direction of Ukraine’s movement critically. However, the situation was the same a year ago, and it reflects the pre-war state of public sentiment,” noted Yakymenko. Speaking about whom Ukrainians trust, Yakymenko emphasized: “First and foremost, those who protect them -  the AFU (completely trusted by 53.3%), other forces within the Security Sector, as well as the President of Ukraine as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the AFU.”

According to him, volunteers and non-governmental organizations also enjoy the public’s trust. Yakymenko emphasized that nearly half of Ukrainians believe that elections should not be held during the war (45.6% against). However, as he specified, compared to last year, there has been an increase in the proportion of Ukrainians who would like elections to take place (40.8%). “People are ready to entrust power to three main categories of society. These are the military, new politicians, and experienced professional politicians,” Yakymenko said.

Noting Ukrainians’ assessment regarding peace negotiations and the conditions for a peace agreement, Yakymenko emphasized: “Ukrainians’ views have practically not changed over the past year. As we can see, they are not ready to cede territories currently controlled by Ukraine for the sake of peace.”

“Trust in the aggressor state did not exist and remains absent. The majority of Ukrainians believe that in the event a peace agreement is signed, Russia will violate it as soon as a convenient moment arises (61.6% of respondents hold this view),” Yakymenko emphasized.

Additionally, Ukrainians were asked whether our country could assist NATO in the event of Russian aggression. “Ukrainians believe that Russia definitely or possibly intends to attack NATO countries. In this situation, the majority of citizens believe that Ukraine can contribute to strengthening NATO’s security, either now during the war or after the war ends,” the President of the Centre emphasized.

Commenting on how Ukrainians view our prospects in the war, he said: “Ukrainians’ faith in victory remains steadfast despite everything. In the fifth year of the war, two-thirds of Ukrainians (36.5%) continue to believe in our state’s victory over the Russian aggressor.” According to Yakymenko, citizens define victory as the return of occupied territories and the destruction of the aggressor state’s army.

Furthermore, according to the survey results, as of April 2026, Ukrainians perceive the level of corruption in the country to be quite high - averaging 8.6 out of a maximum of 10 points. This figure was identical a year ago but is higher than in March 2023 (7.1).

Responding to the question “What is the level of corruption compared to the pre-war period?”, 56.3% of surveyed Ukrainians stated that it is higher. At the same time, a quarter of citizens (25.4%) believe that the level of corruption remains the same as it was before February 24, 2022.

The sociological survey was conducted by the Razumkov Centre, commissioned by the Kyiv Security Forum, from April 2 to April 8, 2026, using the face-to-face interview method. A total of 1,200 respondents aged 18 and older were surveyed in the Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, and Chernivtsi regions, and the city of Kyiv (only in territories controlled by the Government of Ukraine where no active hostilities are taking place). The theoretical sampling error does not exceed 2.9%.

“Open Ukraine” is an international foundation established in 2007 upon the initiative of Arseniy Yatsenyuk to strengthen Ukraine’s standing in the world. Each year, the Foundation organizes the Kyiv Security Forum, which has become Ukraine’s leading international discussion platform on issues of war and peace, as well as the Youth Kyiv Security Forum to develop a new generation of Ukrainian leaders.