Almost half of Ukrainians blame Russia for Russia-Ukraine conflict - poll

Around half of the Ukrainian public believes that Russia is responsible for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, according to a July poll conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and by the Razumkov Centre.

According to the poll, some 49% of respondents blame Russia for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. One-third of the country believes that responsibility is shared by Ukraine and Russia.

All in all, 9% of Ukrainians say that Ukraine is responsible for the conflict.

Regionally, the figures are as follows: if in the western and central part of the country most of the population believes that Russia is responsible for the conflict (67% and 62% respectively), while in other regions public opinion is somewhat different. Thus, in the south half of the country the inhabitants (51%) believe that both countries are equally responsible for the conflict. In the east, public opinion is almost equal between those who blame Russia for the conflict (37%) and those who believe Russia shares responsibility between Ukraine and Russia (39%). In the liberated part of Donbas, some 41% of residents believe that both countries are responsible for the armed conflict, 24% say that responsibility lays primarily on Russia, while 18% are convinced that Ukraine is responsible.