Assessment of the damage caused by the war crimes of russia in Ukraine (September 15-19, 2022)
The survey was conducted as part of the project of the Public Organization "Center for Promotion of the Volunteer Movement "Volonter.Org": "Assessment of the damage caused by the war crimes of the Russian Federation in Ukraine". The survey and the report were developed within the framework of the project "Urgent support of the EU for civil society", which is implemented by ISAR Ednannia with the financial support of the European Union. Its content is entirely responsibility of the Public Organization "Center for Promotion of the Volunteer Movement “Volonter.Org" and does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union. Expert support and consultations during the research have been provided by the representatives of the Coalition "Ukraine. Five in the morning".
• According to the survey results, about a quarter of the respondents said they were forced to change their place of residence in Ukraine during the full-scale invasion of russia in Ukraine. Most of them are among those who lived in the war zone * (64%) and in Kyiv (42%). One-third of those who left their homes have already returned. Also, 9% of those displaced plan to return in the nearest future, 15% intend to wait. At the same time, another one-third intend to return, but only if the war ends. Only 6% do not plan to return at all. Considering the de-occupied localities, half of those who had left during the war have already returned.
• 32% of the polled stated they experienced material losses as a result of the war; 67% did not. More than a half of the inhabitants of the territories where hostilities were or are still ongoing have suffered losses. Among the losses, money was most often mentioned – by 36%, housing - 23%, household appliances - 14%. 7% said they had lost animals, 6% - cars, 5% - production, 4% - commercial real estate.
• Every tenth respondent stated that their housing was either destroyed (2%) or damaged (8%). 5% are not aware of the current condition of their housing. For 85%, the housing situation has not changed. About one-third of those whose home is either in the de-occupied territory or in the war zone said that their home was damaged. Also, every fifth of those whose housing is still in the occupation zone, does not know anything about its condition.
• In a third of the damaged buildings, reconstruction works have already begun: 4% have started major renewal, 27% - partial renewal. Despite this, 66% have not yet started any works. Among those who lost their homes, 18% have already filed a claim for damage to DIYA, 16% - to law enforcement bodies, 15% - to other state institutions, 67% - have not appealed anywhere yet. 39% of victims believe that their houses should be rebuilt as soon as possible, 59% - on the contrary, think that it is worth waiting for the end of the war first.
• The majority of those who lost their homes (58%) plan to use their own funds for reconstruction. 27% expect to restore the housing using state funds, 12% - funds of international organizations, 9% - funds of volunteers, and 7% - funds of relatives or charitable funds. Owners of destroyed housing expect more help from the state, while owners of partially damaged housing expect to cope using their own resources. In general, those who have already started repairs proceed mostly at their own expense. In general, residents who have already returned home are more active in restoring their housing - most of them have already started reconstruction and filed a claim for damage.
• Currently, among those who had had a job before the war, 61% are working: full-time - 36%, remote or part-time - 19%, found a new job - 6%. Instead, 37% lost their jobs and are not working now. The highest number of those who lost their jobs was recorded among the residents of the East, women, those with the lowest income, and internally displaced persons. Over the month, the indicators of employment have not changed significantly in general; however, compared to the previous surveys, positive trends in terms of the return to work in the Central and Western regions are observed.
• The main source of income for the majority of respondents is salary (56%) and pension (31%). 8% had income from private business, and the same number received social assistance. Since the beginning of the war, only 2% of respondents declare growth of income; 33% say their income has not changed. On the other hand, two-thirds of the polled have seen a worsening of the income situation: 18% have had a slight decrease of income, 32% - a significant decrease, and 14% have lost almost all of their income. Residents of the South and East and middle-aged people have experienced the greatest financial losses. Half of the polled said that in case of a complete loss of income, their savings would last for month, 19% - up to 2 months, 12% - up to 3 months, the same number - up to six months or more.
• Among those whose source of income before the war was business, only 12% noted that it continued to operate fully. Almost a half indicated that their business was operating, but with lower profits. On the other hand, 12% plan to close their business, 28% - have already stopped operating. 30% of business income recipients have had employees. Among them, almost 40% of employers had to fire employees, more than 20% - to reduce salaries.
• 35% of the polled had to temporarily separate from their family/partner due to the war: 12% had to, but they have already reunited, 23% are still living separately. Most of them are among the residents of the war zone, young people, those with higher income, and those whose relatives are fighting. 52% said they were not separated from their families because of the war.
• More than a half of the respondents noted the deterioration of their physical health, more than 60% spoke the same about their mental health. Deterioration of health is observed among the residents of de-occupied, front-line, and war zones, older people, those with lower income, those who had to be separated from their families, and those who have lost relatives because of the war.
• 47% indicated that they had close relatives who bear arms. Almost 20% reported that they had close relatives with whom they had lost contact and still do not know where they are. 5% have among their relatives those who died due to the war, 3% - those who were forcibly deported either to russia or to the occupied territories of the East or Crimea. 7% of the polled noted that they personally or their close relatives had been injured or disabled due to military actions.
• 95% did not apply to law enforcement agencies over the last six months on issues caused by the invasion of russia.
• Over 90% believe russia should compensate Ukraine's economic and infrastructural losses during the war. At the same time, only one-third of the respondents believe in this compensation. 14-15% expect for compensation from European countries and international organizations, 10% - from the USA, and 9% - from Ukraine. More than 70% believe in the possibility of compensations from these countries.
• Special trials with the participation of national and foreign judges (63%) and international institutions (23%) are considered to be the most effective mechanism to deal with war crimes of russia. Only 5% believe Ukrainian courts can be such a mechanism. One-third of the polled are ready to personally participate in lawsuits in order to claim compensation for lost property/health in Ukrainian and international courts.
• Among the sources of information about the war in Ukraine, the most trusted are the TV marathon (40%), the stories of eyewitnesses and acquaintances (35%), and social media channels (33%).
• Almost 40% believe that five years are enough to restore Ukraine's infrastructure and economy. 25% believe that it takes up to ten years, 23% - more than ten years. 4% think that reconstruction will last up to one year.
• The majority of Ukrainians are ready to participate in the reconstruction of the country: 42% - personally, 49% - ready, but do not have the opportunity. Residents of Kyiv, those aged 18-50, men, those with higher income are more likely to participate in reconstruction.
* For the purposes of this survey, several approaches to regional distribution are used. In the answers that refer to damage assessment, an atypical distribution is used, taking into account the intensity of hostilities during a full-scale russian invasion in Ukraine in 2022. Hhostilities zones (partially or fully occupied regions in which active hostilities are taking place): Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kherson regions. Front-line zones (regions near the hostilities zone, some of which are subject to constant fire): Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa. De-occupied zones (regions that were partially occupied until April 2022): Kyiv, Sumy, Chernihiv. West and Center (regions that were not occupied (absolutely or almost): Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Poltava, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Chernivtsi, Cherkasy. Kyiv is picked out in a separate group due to its proximity to hostilities until April 2022 and a high level of internal migration.
In other cases, a more traditional distribution into 5 macro-regions is used: West, Center, South, East, and the city of Kyiv.
