Ukrainians' trust in Zelenskyy grows from 36 to 90% in almost a year of full-scale Russian war

This was reported by the Rating sociological group.

The comprehensive comparative study "How the war has changed me and the country. Results of the Year" shows how the views, assessments and lives of Ukrainians have changed in almost a year of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"Ukraine is going through a difficult period of its development, rethinking its role in history. In general, the war has helped to increase public confidence in state institutions. Confidence in the Armed Forces of Ukraine has increased from 65 to 97%, and in the president – from 36 to 90%," the study says.

The study recorded a significant increase in public self-esteem. The majority of respondents rated Ukraine's position above average – 4.6 points out of 7 maximum, which is 1.5 times higher than in 2021. The main emotion that respondents feel when thinking about Ukraine is pride. This figure more than doubled from 34% to 75%. 

Two-thirds of respondents rated Ukraine's future prospects as the highest. 

22% of Ukrainians began to use the Ukrainian language more often.

"There has been an increase in trust in the media, but the main feature of wartime is a sharp change in the channels of communication and information received by citizens. And while trust in national and local media has increased, the frequency of consumption of their news content has decreased. Instead, there has been a significant increase in groups and channels in messengers (from 11 to 41%), as well as on YouTube (from 21 to 29%). Social networks have retained their influence (35%)," the sociologists explained.

Record figures for the entire history of the country are observed in the issues of Ukraine's accession to the European Union – 87% of citizens support it and 86% support NATO.

Despite the positive changes in society, optimism and absolute faith in victory, the war continues to harm Ukrainians.

"Over the past six months, the number of those who have lost their relatives has almost doubled (from 9 to 17%), as has the number of those whose loved ones have been injured (from 8 to 13%). At the same time, there is an increase in the number of those who report deteriorating health (from 25 to 33%), as well as a decrease in the number of those who report income losses (from 38 to 31%)," the Rating Group said in a statement.