Even now, most Ukrainians are not willing to surrender the eastern Donbas area to Russia in exchange of peace guarantees as a public opinion survey issued on Monday by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) showed. The results also show an increasing readiness of Ukrainians to further fight Russia over a long period of time.
The poll established that half of the respondents unanimously oppose the suggestion of ceding Ukraine its Luhansk and Donetsk republics to Russia as part of a peace settlement but 40 percent indicated that they would listen to such a proposal. KIIS Executive Director Anton Hrushetsky claims that the dominant sentiment in the Ukrainian society is that the surrender of Donbas would not enhance national security. The mentioned regions occupy approximately 20 percent of the Ukrainian territory and populated areas and the positions held on front lines in those territories have been mostly the same over recent months.
The strongest opposition to any territorial concession was recorded in Kyiv, where 59% said they rejected it, but also in all regions, including the largely Russian-speaking east of Ukraine, the majority opposed giving up control of Donbas as the poll indicated.
The matter has come to the fore under pressure by the White House of the U.S. President Donald Trump who since becoming president in February 2025 has been urging Ukraine to consider accepting Russian sovereignty over Donbas as part of a peace negotiation. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed those conditions saying that the constitution of Ukraine does not allow such concessions and that it would not be endorsed by the citizens.
The KIIS poll took place between 23rd January and 29rd January and focused on a group of 1,003 randomly selected adults who were living on the government-controlled Ukrainian territory through phone. There was a maximum error of 4.1%.
In addition to the question of territory, the survey also revealed 65 per cent of Ukrainians surveyed that they are ready to endure the war as long as they need it, compared to 62 per cent in similar polls in September and December 2025. Kyiv had the highest (72) readiness to persist in the fight, nevertheless, it was also strong throughout the country.
During the polling period, Russia has conducted four massive attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure, firing 22 missiles and over 750 drones at such cities as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Dnipro, Odesa, and Zaporizhzhia. The assaults killed three individuals and left more than three million residents without power and heating of different durations.
Irrespective of these circumstances, KIIS did not discover a rise in the support of the people to peace on any terms. In its turn, it is claimed that the evidence indicates that Ukrainians remain resilient, adaptive, and determined despite the uncertainty over an imminent termination of the war.