“The Truth About Ukrainians”

A joint project for regular public opinion surveys in Ukraine
by the “Social Design Lab” and the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

What is this project?

Every month, together with the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, we call approximately 500 adult Ukrainians and ask them the same basic questions: how do you assess the situation in the country, do you feel safe, and what do you expect from the future? We add a section on what’s on the public’s mind this particular month: attacks on retail chain warehouses, winter utility rates, the start of the school year, and plans to leave or return home. This is how the omnibus—a “bus” that picks up different topics each month but follows the same route—comes together.
Phone numbers are generated randomly, in proportion to the market shares of the three largest mobile operators, so the sample includes—with equal probability—a retiree from a village in the Poltava region, an IT specialist from Lviv, and an internally displaced person from Kharkiv who now lives in Vinnytsia. The results represent the adult population of Ukraine, excluding the temporarily occupied territories; the margin of error does not exceed 4.5%. The questionnaires are developed by the Sociological Monitoring Sector of the Institute of Sociology and the Social Design Laboratory; financial support is currently provided by the research agency Research.ua. We have also submitted an application for grant funding for the omnibus survey to ISAR “Yednannia”—we’ll see if they approve it.

Who Are We Doing This For?

First and foremost, for journalists. There are quite a few polls in Ukraine, but most of them are either paid or one-time surveys: the client chooses the topic, and the results are published when it suits the client. We wanted newsrooms to have regular, predictable, and free access to up-to-date data on public sentiment. That’s why, after each wave, we send a press release and a full report to all leading Ukrainian media outlets and publish them on this page. The figures may be used freely, with attribution to Omnibus.
Our second audience consists of decision-makers: government agencies, local governments, international organizations, and charitable foundations. It is important for them not only to know what people think today but also to see how those views change from month to month. That is why some questions are repeated in every wave without any changes to the wording.
And, finally, for Ukrainians themselves. During wartime, it’s easy to believe that despair reigns all around, or, conversely, that everyone except you is staying upbeat. Reliable figures help us see society as it truly is.

What the first waves revealed

In July 2026, during the first wave of the survey, 48% of respondents expected the situation in the country to improve. At the same time, 28% said they almost constantly found it difficult to manage important aspects of their lives, and 30% said they almost constantly lacked the energy to handle everyday tasks. In other words, fatigue and hope coexist within the same people at the same time. At that time, we also observed that public attitudes toward the resignation of Mykhailo Fedorov and the appointment of Mykhailo Drapaty were diametrically opposed.

In August, during the second wave, we asked about the war. Nearly half (47%) believe that Ukraine is winning or has the upper hand, but there are no illusions about a quick peace: only 8% expect hostilities to end within the next six months, 31% are preparing for another three or more years of war, and 61% say they are personally ready to hold out for that long. Sixty-four percent believe rebuilding the country will take more than ten years, yet 49% believe they will live better after the war than they did before it. Only one in ten feels completely safe right now.

In September 2026, during the third wave of the survey, we found that 83% of adults living with school-age children are satisfied with how safety is organized at school, and 68% are satisfied with the quality of education. Most children have returned to in-person learning: 56% of students are attending classes in person, 26% are in a hybrid format, and 18% are learning entirely remotely.
The most common problem is interruptions in schooling due to air raid alerts and shelling: 84% of families have faced this issue. Another 58% reported that their children are experiencing fatigue, anxiety, and a lack of motivation.

How we work with data

Each wave consists of a press release, a report with charts and breakdowns by gender, age, region, type of settlement, and socioeconomic status, as well as a consolidated report that compiles the results of all waves. Respondents’ answers are anonymous: we do not record names, addresses, or phone numbers, and we publish only aggregate percentages. We are ready to provide researchers and civil society organizations with the raw data sets for their own analysis — please contact us.

And if you have a topic you think Ukrainians should be asked about in the next wave, please let us know. That’s what the omnibus survey is for!

Results of the Sociological Omnibus