Majority of Donbas population wants to live in Ukraine
Majority of Donbas population wants its region to stay inside Ukraine, but with more autonomy. This is confirmed by results of the public opinion poll conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and Kyiv International Institute of Sociology during September 12-21, 2014.
42% of Donbas inhabitants prefer that Donbas would remain a part of Ukraine but obtain more independence from Kyiv.
26% of respondents want Donbas, meaning Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, to become an independent state, and 16% are eager to join Russia.
Only 7% agree to preservation of status-quo of Donbas inside the Ukrainian state.
Public opinion of other Ukrainian regions looks strikingly different.
74% of Western Ukrainians, 53% of Central Ukrainians, 40% of Eastern Ukrainians, and 35% of Southern Ukrainians would prefer preservation of current status of Donbas. At the same time, granting Donbas more autonomy is supported by 40% of respondents from the East of Ukraine, 33% from the South, 32% from the Center, and 18% from the West.
Only 5% of Ukrainians are ready to give up Donbas to Russia, and only 7% would prefer its independence.
45.5% of Ukrainians would like to keep Donbas inside Ukraine on the same conditions as before, while 32.5% are ready to grant this region more autonomy.
Which option of future status of Donetsk and Luhansk regions do you prefer?
| West | Center | South | East | Donbas |
Donbas will remain a part of Ukraine, with the same rights as before | 73,9 | 52,9 | 35,1 | 39,1 | 7,3 |
Donbas will remain a part of Ukraine, but with more autonomy from Kyiv | 18,4 | 32,0 | 33,2 | 40,2 | 42,4 |
Donbas (DPR and LPR) will become an independent state | 0,7 | 1,4 | 7,7 | 7,2 | 25,9 |
Donbas will become a part of the Russian Federation | 2,4 | 2,4 | 2,4 | 5,3 | 16,2 |
Difficult to say | 4,5 | 11,2 | 21,6 | 8,2 | 8,2 |
Which option of future status of Donetsk and Luhansk regions do you prefer?
Donbas will remain a part of Ukraine, with the same rights as before | 45,5 |
Donbas will remain a part of Ukraine, but with more autonomy from Kyiv | 32,5 |
Donbas (DPR and LPR) will become an independent state | 7,0 |
Donbas will become a part of the Russian Federation | 5,2 |
Difficult to say | 9,8 |
The public opinion poll was conducted in 110 settlements in all regions of Ukraine, except the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Luhansk region. The polling work in Luhansk region was hampered by the military actions. In order to compensate for this shortage, the quota of Donetsk region, public opinion in which is in many regards similar to that in Luhansk region, was enlarged. Totally, 2035 respondents wer
