A survey shows 47% of Ukrainians believe that in 10 years’ time, they are more likely to see Ukraine as a ruined country with a large outflow of people than as a prosperous country within the European Union.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda’s article, citing the results of a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in May-June 2025

Quote from Anton Hrushetskyi, KIIS executive director: “There was… a question ‘How do you see Ukraine in 10 years: a prosperous country in the European Union or a ruined country with a large outflow of people?’. During the surveys in December 2024, more than 57% believed that Ukraine would be prosperous in the EU in 10 years. But by the end of May – beginning of June, on the contrary, almost half [it was 28% and it became 47% – ed.] see Ukraine as ruined.”

*How do you see Ukraine in 10 years? Blue: a prosperous country in the European Union; red: a ruined country with a large outflow of people; gray: I don’t know.*Graph: Ukrainska Pravda based on KIIS’ survey

Details: Compared to October 2022, when 88% of respondents believed in Ukraine’s prosperity and only 5% saw destruction and population decline in 10 years, the number of pessimistic Ukrainians has increased ninefold.

As can be seen from the graph, since October 2022, the number of positively disposed Ukrainians has continued to decline with each new survey. However, as of June, the number of those who believe in Ukraine’s prosperity in 10 years remains quite high, 43%.

Sociologists attribute the latest increase in negative expectations to the fact that at the end of last year, some Ukrainians still hoped that US President Donald Trump, who was about to take office, would succeed in fulfilling his repeated promise to stop the war in Ukraine.

But the expectations of Ukrainians did not come true.

“After Trump’s inauguration, his friendly conversations with Putin, and especially after the scandal in the Oval Office with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the end of February, hopes for the American leader and his ability to end the war with Russia were finally dashed,” the Ukrainska Pravda article says.

Despite this, sociologists have noted that Ukrainians are still opposed to territorial concessions and believe that Ukraine is moving towards unity rather than division.

"It was logical to expect that after Trump’s ‘hard landing’ [weakening of support and changes in US rhetoric towards Russia – ed.], there would be a certain morale and psychological decline among Ukrainians. But even under such conditions, our surveys show that the vast majority of Ukrainians are still opposed to ending the war on terms that look like surrender.

We will soon publish the data from a new study, which shows that the sense of unity has strengthened slightly. About 60% of respondents believe that Ukraine is moving towards unity rather than division," Hrushetskyi concluded.

The study was conducted in May-June.

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