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“Back in USSR?”: мнения украинцев и россиян

“Back in USSR?”: opinions of Ukrainians and Russians

Date posted: 18.01.2011 Print Full version

According to the survey conducted by the Sociological Group "Rating" (Ukraine) in December 2010, about 46% of Ukrainians regret the breakup of the Soviet Union. In turn, according to the survey conducted by Levada Center (Russia) in November 2010, Russians - 56% - regret the breakup of the USSR even more. 36% of Ukrainians and 30% of Russians have no regret. 18% of Ukrainians and 16% of Russians found it hard to answer the question.

In both Ukraine and Russia, the responses have a clear age trend: the younger are the respondents, the less they regret the breakup of the USSR. For example, in Ukraine 19% of young people and 69% of pensioners regret the breakup of the Soviet Union; in Russia – 17% and 83% respectively.

At the same time other demographic characteristics and patterns can be seen in Ukraine. Thus, in the regional aspect residents of Donbas (65%), of the South (58%) and of the East (55%) regret the breakup of the Soviet Union the most; while residents of the West (18%) regret it the least.

Women (49%) are more nostalgic about the Soviet Union than men (42%); urban residents (48%) more than rural residents (40%); UOC MP believers (59%) and atheists (47%) more than UOC KP believers (41%) and Greek-Catholics (17%). Respondents, whose native language is Russian (57%) regret the breakup of the USSR more than respondents whose native language is Ukrainian (37%) or both languages (49%); ethnic Russians (69%) more than ethnic Ukrainians (43 %).

In addition, the higher is the educational level of respondents, the less they regret the breakup of the Soviet Union.

53% of respondents in Russia and 41% of Ukrainian residents believe that it was possible to avoid the breakup of the Soviet Union. 32% of Russians and 34% of Ukrainians are sure that the breakup of the state was inevitable.

Interestingly, the number of respondents who could not answer the question was almost two times higher in Ukraine (25%) than in Russia (15%). This result may indicate a lower level of discussion of the issue and different approaches to history in these countries. In addition, about a half of Ukrainians aged 18-29 failed to answer the question "Was the breakup of the Soviet Union inevitable, or was it possible to avoid?".

It is noteworthy that about 70% of respondents, who regret the breakup of the USSR, believe that it could have been avoided. In turn, the majority of respondents, who did not regret the breakup of the Soviet Union (62% of them), believe that its breakup was inevitable.

Most Russians responded to the question "What form of relations between republics of the former Soviet Union would you personally support?" that it should be unification of several republics into closer alliances. Whereas among surveyed Ukrainians the most popular model was the independent existence of all the republics.

Thus, the unification of several republics into closer alliances was supported by 26% of Russians and only by 18% of Ukrainians.

The restoration of the USSR in its old form was supported by 15% of Ukrainians and Russians.

A closer integration of former Soviet republics (similar to the EU) was supported by 19% of Russians and 15% of Ukrainians.

The preservation of the CIS in its current form was supported by 17% of Russians and only 10% of Ukrainians.

Independent existence of all republics was supported by 27% of Ukrainians and only 13% of Russians.

12% of surveyed Russians and 15% of Ukrainians found it difficult to answer the question.

The restoration of the Soviet Union was most supported by residents of Donbas (25%) and the East (26%); the unification of several republics into closer alliances – by residents of the South (35%), a closer integration of all former Soviet republics (similar to the European Union) – by residents of the North (21%) ; independent existence of all republics – by residents of the West (59%), the Centre (31%) and the North of Ukraine (30%).

According to the research conducted in Ukraine, the younger are the respondents and the higher is their level of education, the more they support the independent existence of all former Soviet republics.

Respondents, who regret the breakup of the Soviet Union, support the restoration of the USSR in its old form (31%), unification of several republics into closer alliances (28%) and closer integration of all former Soviet republics similar to the European Union (18%).

In turn, the majority of respondents who do not regret the breakup of the Soviet Union (53% of them) believe that an independent existence of all former Soviet republics will be the most correct. 

The release has been prepared on the basis of researches, conducted by the Sociological Group "Rating" (Ukraine) in December 2010 (2000 surveyed respondents, the error does not exceed 3%) and Levada Center (Russia) in November 2010 (1,593 surveyed respondents, the error does not exceed 3,4%).

The target audience of the research: the population of Ukraine aged from 18 and older. Optional quantity: 2000 respondents. The methods of investigation: personal formalized interview according to the questionnaire (face to face). Measure of inaccuracy for the values close to 50% is less than 3%, for the values close to 30% – less than 2,6%, for the values close to 10% – less than 1,8. The period of completion: 11-18 of December 2010

The oblast’ distribution:

West: Volyns’ka, Transcarpathia, Ivano–Frankivs’ka, L’vivs’ka, Rivnens’ka, Ternopil’s’ka, Chernivets’ka.
Centre: Vinnyts’ka, Kirovograds’ka, Poltavs’ka, Khmel’nyts’ka, Cherkas’ka.
North: Kyiv, Kyivs’ka, Zhytomyrs’ka, Sums’ka, Chernihivs’ka.
South: AR Crimea, Odes’ka, Khersons’ka, Mykolaivs’ka, Sevastopol
East: Dnipropetrovs’ka, Zaporiz’ka, Kharkivs’ka.
Donbass: Donets’ka, Luhans’ka.

Other research: