Lviv oblast during the war: Views of the residents of the cities and IDPs (May 13-23, 2022)

• 26% of the surveyed permanent local residents completely support the actions of Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyy, and 39% rather support them. 24% completely support the actions of Maksym Kozytskyy, the head of the regional state administration, while 35% rather support them (a third of the respondents hesitated to answer). 

 

• Permanent residents express a high level of satisfaction with some areas of the life of their city. They assess public order and food supply relatively better. They are somewhat less satisfied with the strengthening of the city's defenses and providing medicines.

 

• Estimating possible military threats, the permanent residents express slightly more concern than the IDPs. Specifically, both local residents and the IDPs are most afraid of missile strikes on military facilities (46% of locals and 40% of the IDPs estimate this threat as a high one). The respondents are slightly less afraid of sabotage against infrastructure and of missile strikes on civilian objects (24-26% of locals and IDPs estimate these threats as high ones). Local residents are more afraid of diversions against the civilian population (16% estimate their threat as a high one, and 40%, as moderate one) than the IDPs (15% of them estimate this threat as a high one, and 31%, as moderate one). On the other hand, the threat of the seizure of settlements was not estimated as a high or moderate one by the majority of the respondents in either group.  

 

• The vast majority (over 80%) of local residents are involved in defending Ukraine. 49% help financially, 38% volunteer, 13% are engaged in the informational area, 9% work in critical infrastructure, and the shares of 3% serve in the territorial defense or in the Armed Forces. 16% said they are not able to help (the share of such respondents is relatively higher among the oldest ones). 

 

• Two thirds of the surveyed IDPs in Lviv oblast are residents of the eastern regions of Ukraine, 19% arrived from the central regions, and 18% arrived from the southern ones. 62% are women (half of them have children aged up to 17 years). 38% are men. The average age of the IDPs is 43 years. 46% of them regularly speak Russian at home, 34% speak two languages (both Ukrainian and Russian), and 19% speak only Ukrainian.

 

• 38% of the surveyed IDPs named the presence of relatives or close friends there as the main reason for choosing Lviv oblast for temporary stay. 20% chose the region because of the information about the availability of temporary accommodation, and 18%, because of the decision of the organization responsible for their resettlement. Only 7% said they went to Lviv oblast due to the opportunity to get a job. 18% named other reasons. 

 

• In general, the IDPs assess the attitude of the locals towards themselves better than the residents of the cities of Lviv oblast assess their own attitude towards the IPDs. Specifically, 49% of the surveyed IDPs say that the attitude of locals towards them is very positive, while 32% say it’s rather positive. In their turn, 18% of the locals said that their attitude toward the IDPs is completely positive, 35% say it’s positive, and 34%, neutral. 11% of the locals said that they have a negative attitude towards the IDPs.

 

• 24% of the surveyed residents of Lviv oblast said that they are already hosting IDPs from other regions of the country. Another 15% are ready to host IDPs. 57% did not express a desire to host IDPs. 

 

• More than 90% of the IDPs would like to make acquaintances and friends with the locals. On the other hand, a little more than half (56%) of the locals would not mind finding friends among the IDPs (34% don’t have such a desire).

 

• Despite the fact that 80% of those who recently arrived to Lviv oblast speak either both Ukrainian and Russian or only Russian at home, the majority of them (67%) try to communicate only in Ukrainian with the locals (this share is 57% among Russian speakers and 64% among those who speak both languages). 

 

• 46% of the IDPs do not see any issue of language-based misunderstanding with the local residents. 41% see this as a minor problem, and 12%, as a significant one. On the other hand, 31% of the locals do not see any problem with the language, 42% consider it a minor problem, while 25% believe it is a significant problem. 

 

• 61% of the IDPs believe that there is no tension between the IDPs and locals, while 36% disagree. 52% of the locals say there is some tension, and 42% of the locals say there is none.

 

• 39% of the surveyed permanent residents of Lviv oblast said that they were unaware of any violations of social norms and indecent behavior by the IDPs from other regions of Ukraine. 32% know about such cases only from the media. 27% have personally witnessed such cases. 

 

• Both permanent residents and IDPs absolutely agree that the cities where they are currently staying are comfortable to live in.

 

• Only 14% of the surveyed IDPs said they lacked food or clothing. 21% complained about the lack of household goods and 24% complained about the lack of medicines. 69% of the surveyed IDPs received social and humanitarian assistance from volunteers or from other people, 54%, from the government, and 48%, from charities. At the same time, 70% of the surveyed local residents said that they personally provided assistance to local IDPs.

 

• 79% of permanent local residents think that local authorities effectively manage to accommodate IDPs from other regions of Ukraine (35% think they manage quite effectively, and 44%, rather effectively).

 

• 49% of the surveyed IDPs currently live in refugee centers, while 22% in the homes of their relatives, friends or acquaintances. 21% rent an apartment and 3% live in the homes of strangers. Only 2% live in hotels or hostels. Among those who rent housing, 54% consider the cost of rent too high, while 40% consider it acceptable.

 

• Only 10% of the surveyed IDPs who have school-age children say their children are already studying at local schools. 70% of such respondents said that their children continue their education at their former schools. The children of 18% of respondents are not studying at the moment.

 

• 26% of the IDPs would like to stay in the cities of Lviv oblast or find a job there. 30% would consider such a possibility, while 41% do not have such intentions. In turn, 39% of the locals expressed a positive attitude to the possibility that a part of the IDPs could stay in their city to live or work there. 36% are neutral about this, and 22% have negative attitude.

 

• At the same time, 84% of the surveyed local residents support the initiative to relocate war-affected enterprises to Lviv oblast. 63% support the idea of building permanent housing for the IDPs in their cities (the share of those who are against this is 23% in general and the highest one is in Lviv: 27%).

 

• 18% of the surveyed IDPs plan to return home soon, while 34% plan to return, but a little later. 36% intend to return only after the war is over. Only 8% do not intend to return at all.

 

• Only 19% of IDPs are employed today, while 80% do not have a job. 39% of those who are temporarily unemployed intend to look for a job in Lviv oblast and 54% do not intend to. Relatively higher shares of those who intend to look for a job are among men, the young and middle-aged people, and those who are staying in Lviv.

 

• More than 80% of both locals and IDPs are ready to endure financial difficulties for the sake of victory over Russia as long as necessary. 

 

• 75% of the surveyed local residents do not consider going abroad in case of military escalation in the region. This share is 54% among IDPs (as mentioned, 62% of IDPs are women).