Over three fourths (76.7 percent) residents of eight regions in the southeastern part of Ukraine oppose actions by armed persons who seize administrative buildings in their regions, according to the results of a poll conducted by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) under the order of ZN.UA on April 10-15, 2014 published in the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia. Ukraine weekly on Saturday, April 19.
Some 11.7 percent of respondents support radical activists.
“The figure of supporting residents is rather disturbing, but not critical, even taking into account traditionally high figures in Donetsk (18.1 percent) and Luhansk (22.4 percent). Sociologists said that the splash in the radical factor here along with the general expectations of disarmament and stability could be explained by the high tension and emotions with people who watch or participate in the events,” the weekly said.
According to the sociologists, the number of people supporting seizures of administrative buildings is almost equal between those who believe that otherwise it is impossible to pay attention to the problems of the region – Donetsk 23 percent and Luhansk 24.3 percent – and those who support such actions, as during the revolution in Kyiv and western regions of Ukraine they do the same – Donetsk 22.3 percent and Luhansk 30.8 percent.
“It would be unfair to state that only provokers and separatists attend rallies. The percentage of people who believe that it is impossible to justify the armed seizure of buildings and that the problems must be solved only using a diplomatic way is high – 61 percent,” the weekly said.
Asked if they support the idea that Russia is the organizer of separatism rallies and seizures of administrative buildings in southeast, 41.4 percent said ‘no’ and 38.3% said ‘yes.’
The survey was conducted on April 10-15 among Ukrainians aged over 18. A total of 3,232 respondents were interviewed in eight regions of Ukraine (Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Donetsk regions). The survey’s margin of error does not exceed 0.95 percent.
