When it comes to Google searches, perhaps unsurprisingly, Ukrainians are most concerned about when their lights will go out, given the country’s grim energy situation.
More surprising is what comes next: The second most-searched term is The Bachelor 2025 – yes, the reality TV show.
Google has released its Year in Search 2025, listing the most popular queries across countries and offering a glimpse into what has been on Ukrainians’ minds this year – a portrait of how they are balancing the harshness of daily life with small escapes as Russia’s full-scale war nears its fourth year.
#1 – Light outage schedule
As of Dec. 8, Kyiv residents have roughly eight hours of electricity per day – a figure that varies across regions as Ukraine’s energy grid continues to suffer from Russian airstrikes.
But for locals, a key piece of information is when the lights might be on or off so they can prepare their lives accordingly – when to cook, when to do laundry, etc.
Learning from the summer 2024 blackouts, energy operators and local authorities have built a system that allows locals to check power schedules for their addresses. Top results from a quick search showed timetables from DTEK and Yasno, two major energy operators in Ukraine, while official timetables from other regions are shown further down the search results.
The trend over the year aligns with reality: Searches remained low throughout the summer, when no major attacks occurred, but began spiking in late September as Russia renewed strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid – a pattern that continues to rise at the time of publication.
#2 – The Bachelor 2025
Ukraine also has its own version of The Bachelor, now in its 14th season – also the second season since Russia’s 2022 invasion started.
For the uninitiated, the show follows a single man dating multiple women in search of a potential romantic partner. In the latest season, actor Taras Tsymbalyuk took over as the “bachelor,” succeeding last season’s lead, Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Budko.
Staff members at Kyiv Post attributed the show’s popularity to its fairy-tale appeal, which they said resonates with many local female viewers. They noted that memes and online chatter have likely made it even more popular.
#3 – Squid Games 2
The second season of Netflix’s worldwide sensation, “Squid Games,” a Korean TV series, is also popular in Ukraine.
Interestingly, search interest in Ukraine far exceeded that of other countries in the region, according to Google – at a scale where 100 is the “most popular” and 50 is “half as popular,” Ukraine comes in at 100, while Czechia, in second place, comes in at a mere 3.
There’s a poignant irony in its popularity in Ukraine: Men and women struggling to survive in the real world are watching contestants fight for survival on a TV show. At the same time, its popularity suggests that Ukraine is connected to the world, war or no.
#4 – Labubu
Collectible plush Labubu ranked fourth among the most searched queries in Ukraine.
Its popularity was such that Ukrainian customs seized 17,000 counterfeit dolls worth Hr.500,000 ($11,860) in August.
No one has a clear answer for why the dolls, made by Chinese toy maker Pop Mart, are so popular, though the BBC noted that their collectability and widespread marketing likely have something to do with it.
#5 – Usyk / Dubois
In 2025, the world has a new undisputed heavyweight champion – and he is Ukrainian.
In July, Crimea-born boxer Oleksandr Usyk defeated British boxer Daniel Dubois in a rematch, knocking him out in the fifth round and capturing the International Boxing Federation (IBF) belt from Dubois.
Already holding the belts from the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), and World Boxing Organization (WBO), the addition of the IBF belt from Dubois cemented Usyk’s status as the undisputed world heavyweight champion – the first one since Lennox Lewis in 2000.
However, Usyk relinquished his WBO heavyweight title in November 2025 to focus on other ventures, meaning he is technically no longer the undisputed champion.
Here’s an interesting fact for some: Kyiv’s current mayor is Vitaly Klitschko, also a world heavyweight champion in the 2000s.
#6, 7, 8 – Wednesday Season 2, Gorge, Mobland
The next three most popular searches in Ukraine are all Hollywood shows or movies.
In sixth place is “Wednesday” Season 2, a spinoff of “The Addams Family” starring Jenna Ortega. This is followed by “The Gorge,” a US film about snipers featuring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy, with the latter playing a sniper from Eastern Europe.
In eighth place is “MobLand,” a crime series with a star-studded cast including Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren.
Interestingly enough, “The Gorge” also topped the list of top movies in Ukraine on Google, while the two shows named ranked just below Squid Games 2 in its top TV series list.
While no Ukrainian films appeared among the most searched queries, the country’s film industry continues to thrive despite the war – as exemplified by “Kakhovka Object,” a zombie movie shot during the war, about the war, and set against the backdrop of a fictional Soviet zombie lab beneath the Kakhovka Dam destroyed by Russian forces in 2023.
#9 – Eurovision 2025
As with many countries in Europe, Eurovision is a big deal in Ukraine.
For those uninitiated across the pond, Eurovision is an annual song contest where the countries participating send a representative. The winner hosts the next year’s contest.
Ukraine won three times in Eurovision history: Ruslana with “Wild Dances” in 2004, Jamala with “1944” in 2016, and Kalush Orchestra with “Stefania” in 2022. JJ from Austria won this year’s Eurovision.
Russia, banned from the contest due to its invasion of Ukraine, relaunched its Soviet-era “Intervision” counterpart this year as well.
#10 – NABU
In July, Ukraine saw its largest wartime protest to date, with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) at the center of the controversy.
The government attempted to pass a law that would place the independent NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) under the Prosecutor General’s Office, effectively bringing them under government control.
The law was quietly inserted into an existing draft and approved by lawmakers, sparking widespread anger. Nationwide protests erupted, forcing the government to backtrack and pass a new bill that largely restored the agencies’ independence.
Read this Kyiv Post report to understand how Ukraine’s anti-corruption ecosystem was built.