The opinion poll was conducted from August 9 to 15, 2023 by Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation in cooperation with the Razumkov Center sociological service with the support of the MATRA program funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine.
The survey was conducted using face-to-face method in the following regions:
- Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Chernivtsi regions (Western macro region);
- Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Kirovograd, Poltava, Sumy, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Chernihiv regions and in Kyiv city (Central macro region);
- Mykolaiv, Kherson and Odesa regions (Southern macro region);
- Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv regions (Eastern macro region).
The survey was conducted using a stratified multi-stage sample. The structure of the sample reflects the demographic structure of the adult population of the surveyed territories as of the beginning of 2022 (by age, gender, type of settlement).
2019 respondents aged 18 and older were interviewed. The theoretical sampling error does not exceed 2.3%. At the same time, additional systematic sample deviations may be caused by the consequences of Russian aggression, in particular, the forced evacuation of millions of citizens.
Key findings
- About 68% of Ukrainians report that since the full-scale war began, they have volunteered to help the army/temporarily displaced persons or people affected by the war (18% provided physical assistance, 28% - financial assistance, and 22% were involved in both types of assistance). Almost 11% say that they have not yet been involved in such assistance, but they would like to. Those who have not been involved and do not intend to be involved in volunteer assistance make up about 15% in the country as a whole (in the Eastern macro-region there are slightly more people with such intentions 22%).
This result is slightly higher than in December 2022. Back then, about 61% of people were involved in volunteer assistance (compared to 68% in August 2023). It is likely that some of the people who had previously planned to volunteer have done so in the last six months.
Younger and middle-aged respondents were expectedly more likely to engage in volunteering than older people, who were somewhat more reluctant to provide physical and/or financial assistance (probably due to health conditions or lack of resources to meet their own daily needs).
Ukrainians with higher incomes were also significantly more likely to volunteer to help the army and their fellow citizens. Among those with lower incomes, 47% volunteered, while among those with higher incomes, almost twice as many (86%) were involved in physical and/or financial assistance.
Distributions of respondents' answers
| Ukraine total | West | Center | South | East |
Yes, I helped with physical assistance | 18,2 | 22,1 | 14,7 | 17,3 | 21,1 |
Yes, I helped financially | 27,7 | 31,2 | 28,0 | 17,8 | 27,5 |
Yes, I helped both with physical and financial assistance | 21,9 | 26,8 | 24,8 | 10,6 | 15,0 |
No, but I plan to involve in physical assistance | 2,7 | 1,8 | 2,7 | 5,8 | 2,2 |
No, but I plan to get involved in financial assistance | 3,8 | 1,8 | 5,1 | 6,3 | 2,5 |
No, but I plan to continue to contribute to both physical and financial assistance | 4,0 | 3,3 | 4,5 | 5,8 | 2,7 |
No, and I have no intention to get involved | 15,4 | 10,0 | 14,8 | 19,2 | 22,1 |
Don’t know/Difficult to answer | 6,3 | 3,0 | 5,5 | 17,3 | 6,9 |
temporal trends
| December 2022 | August 2023 |
Yes, I helped with physical assistance/financially/ both with physical and financial assistance | 61,4 | 67,8 |
No, but I plan to involve in physical/financial/both physical and financial assistance | 15,1 | 10,5 |
No, and I have no intention to get involved | 17,5 | 15,4 |
Don’t know/Difficult to answer | 6,0 | 6,3 |
age distribution
| Ukraine total | 18-29 years old | 30-39 years old | 40-49 years old | 50-59 years old | 60 years and older |
Yes, I helped with physical assistance/financially/ both with physical and financial assistance | 67,8 | 75,8 | 78,6 | 78,4 | 67,8 | 49,1 |
No, but I plan to involve in physical/financial/both physical and financial assistance | 10,5 | 12,1 | 9,0 | 10,0 | 11,1 | 10,6 |
No, and I have no intention to get involved | 15,4 | 7,5 | 7,8 | 8,9 | 13,9 | 30,2 |
Don’t know/Difficult to answer | 6,3 | 4,7 | 4,6 | 2,7 | 7,2 | 10,1 |
distribution by financial situation
| We can barely make ends meet, we don't even have enough money to buy the necessary groceries | We have enough money for food and to buy the necessary inexpensive items | In general, we have enough money to live on, but buying durable goods is causing difficulties | We live well, but we are not yet able to make some purchases |
Yes, I helped with physical assistance/financially/ both with physical and financial assistance | 46,7 | 65,0 | 76,9 | 85,9 |
No, but I plan to involve in physical/financial/both physical and financial assistance | 9,5 | 10,1 | 12,1 | 9,4 |
No, and I have no intention to get involved | 31,0 | 17,2 | 9,5 | 3,1 |
Don’t know/Difficult to answer | 12,8 | 7,7 | 1,5 | 1,6 |
