CHECK – War in Ukraine: does a poll show that a majority of Ukrainians “wish to capitulate”?

More than 1000 days of war (new window)and a fatigue which seizes the soldiers. According to several Internet users, a recent survey shows that more than half of Ukrainians are now ready to do anything for peace, even if it means ceding lands invaded by Russia. “Stop sending these Ukrainians to their deaths and work for Peace”for example, protested a Russophile, calling to stop the “psychopaths”. “The absolute majority” Ukrainians “is ready to capitulate”, writes a Telegram channel close to the Kremlin. What is it really?

A quarter of Ukrainians ready to cede territories

Each time, the source is the same. Namely a survey published this Tuesday, November 19 (new window) by Gallup, an American company specializing in public opinion polling. In a recent publication, the company actually stated that “Half of Ukrainians want a quick end” to the conflict which has lasted for more than two and a half years. Thus, through these surveys carried out last August and October, 52% of Ukrainians questioned said they were in favor of “negotiations” for an end (new window)of the war as quickly as possible. Conversely, more than a third of them (38%) think that their country must continue to fight. A much more defeatist attitude than that adopted following the invasion of Russia. Questioned at the start of 2022, 73% of them preferred to fight until victory.

Peace yes, but not at any price… These results do not at all mean that the majority of respondents want any capitulation. In reality, only half of the 52% of Ukrainians in favor of negotiations are open to “territorial concessions”. In total, only a quarter of those surveyed are willing to give up their land. (new window)

Figures that only come from a single survey. And the results contrast with those that appeared a few days earlier. On November 4, the kyiv International Institute of Sociology (new window)(KIIS) showed that 63% of Ukrainians were ready to endure the war as long as necessary. In both cases, the surveys were carried out among approximately 1,000 adults representative of the country.

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In summary, no poll has shown that a majority of Ukrainians want to capitulate in order to find peace. Polls estimate that between 38% and 63% of them still want to fight. The fact remains that the two opinion surveys demonstrate one and the same phenomenon: in 1000 days of war, they record a clear decrease in the proportion of those who are prepared to endure the war for longer.

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