The Protest Mood of Ukrainians Increased for the First Time This Year

According to the UIF poll “Socio-political sentiments of Ukrainians: October, 2021,” 58% of Ukrainian citizens experience violations of their rights and freedoms. 42% have the opposite opinion. For the first time this year, the number of those who feel violation of their rights exceeds the number of those who do not.

According to the results of seven waves of the study, there is a clear dependence of the answers based on the age of the respondents. 53% of young people under the age of 24 do not believe that their civil liberties are being violated. Whereas among the older generation, who are 55 and older, 47% noticed this.

According to the regional indicator, in Donbas the share of those who feel violations of their rights and freedoms is the highest: 69%. And it is the lowest in the Wes: 44%.

According to the socio-demographic peculiarities of the readiness of Ukrainians for protests, a number of tendencies have been recorded since February. In particular, women are more likely to choose peaceful means such as collecting signatures, while men are more prone to decisive and even radical measures, such as a riot with weapons. And middle-aged people who are 35-54 years old, more often than the younger and older generation are ready for various forms of protection of their rights and freedoms. Among the regions, they are relatively more willing to defend their rights in the West and less in Donbas.

However, in case of violation of their rights, citizens choose mostly peaceful and non-violent methods to protect their rights and freedoms. First of all, it is the collection of signatures – 26%, authorized rallies and actions – 20%, electronic petitions – 15%. Among the most popular, the only measure that goes beyond the sanctioned is road closure – 14%. In general, radical actions gain no more than 5-6% and lag far behind moderate measures.

Natalia Tolub