Almost 70% of Ukrainians say Russia's goal is to destroy Ukrainian nation and statehood – survey

A total of 69% of Ukrainians are convinced that Russia is either seeking the physical genocide of Ukrainians or the destruction of the Ukrainian nation and statehood. Overall, 83% of respondents believe Russia's goals go beyond Donbas.

Source: a survey by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KMIS) conducted on 9-14 January 2026

Details: According to the survey, 69% of respondents believe Russia is aiming either to carry out the physical genocide of Ukrainians or to destroy the Ukrainian nation and statehood, up from 66% in February 2025.

Another 11% of respondents are convinced that Russia is seeking to seize most of Ukraine's territory and install a puppet government, down from 14% in the previous poll, KMIS notes.

In addition, 3% believe Russia wants to "limit itself" to seizing five regions in their entirety, including Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts.

In total, 83% of respondents therefore believe Russia's goals go beyond Donbas and largely involve the full subjugation or destruction of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, 2% of respondents believe Russia is seeking to occupy all of Donbas without taking control of Zaporizhzhia Oblast and Kherson Oblast, while 1% think Moscow wants to limit itself to the territories currently under occupation.

Another 2% of respondents believe Russia aims only at the supposed "denazification" and "demilitarisation" of Ukraine without encroaching on its sovereignty.

For reference: The KIIS survey was conducted on 9-14 January 2026 using telephone interviews based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers across all regions of Ukraine under government control. A total of 601 respondents aged 18 and over were surveyed.

The sample did not include residents of territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian government (while some respondents were internally displaced persons who moved from occupied territories), and the survey was not conducted among citizens who left abroad after 24 February 2022.

Formally, under normal circumstances, the statistical error of such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.3) did not exceed 5.3% for indicators close to 50%, 4.6% for indicators close to 25%, 3.2% for indicators close to 10% and 2.4% for indicators close to 5%.

KMIS notes that additional systematic deviations are possible in wartime conditions. At the same time, the institute considers the results representative and believes they allow a reliable assessment of public sentiment.

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