Lavrov and Ukraine’s Russian-speaking population
Mykhailo Mishchenko, Razumkov Centre
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has recently made another statement about the “protection of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine”: “On the territory of Ukraine, lying beyond the constitutional borders of the Russian Federation, millions of people speak Russian, it is their native language. Leaving them under the rule of the junta that has forbidden even speaking Russian, but not thinking yet, would be a very grave crime.”
Regarding “grave crimes,” “Lavrov and his team” are indeed recognized experts. Taking advantage of the fact that “thinking has not been forbidden yet” in Ukraine, sociologists from Razumkov Centre sought to find out the opinions of those citizens of Ukraine who more often use Russian in their everyday life (from Lavrov’s point of view, “despite all prohibitions”) about the current situation and, in particular, Russia’s actions at their liberation from the “junta's” rule.
According to the public opinion poll conducted by the Razumkov Centre Sociological Service jointly with the Kyiv Security Forum on April 24 - May 4, 2025 (2,021 respondents aged above 18 years were polled in all regions of Ukraine except for temporarily occupied territories), 11% of respondents reported that they mainly spoke Russian at home.
Exactly this group suffered the most in course of their “liberation from the junta” - 23% of them said that during the full-scale war they stayed at least for some time in the area of hostilities or in the territory that was shelled by artillery, 12% - that their housing was damaged or completely destroyed. 41% have relatives or friends (military or civilian) who died or were injured as a result of military operations or shelling after February 24, 2022.
Every fourth person had to leave his place of permanent residence for more than one month after the start of the war (17% have returned home, and 7% still temporarily live in other regions of Ukraine) – this does not include those staying abroad. Another 2% said they had left their homes after 2014 (the occupation of Crimea and parts of Donbas).
Identity
When asked what they primarily identify with, 48% of this group named Ukraine, 20% - the city or village where they live, 12% - the region in which they live, 10% - the Soviet Union, 4% - the European Union, only 2% - Russia.
11% of them called themselves faithful to the UOC (Moscow Patriarchate), while almost twice as many (20%) said to be believers of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Only 14% said "Yes" to the question: “Do you plan to leave Ukraine for another country for permanent residence after the war?”, 69% - "No".
Only 13% of them expressed a positive (or largely positive) attitude to Russia, 82% - a negative one. For comparison: 79% reported a positive attitude to France, 75% to Great Britain, and 71.5% to Poland.
Answering the question: “Which model of social development seems more attractive to you?”, 42% preferred the European model, only 6% - the Russian one.
Attitude to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, readiness to make concessions, belief in victory, idea of the relations between Ukraine and Russia after the war
81.5% of those who usually communicate in Russian at home trust the Armed Forces of Ukraine (only 14% don't). 4% have reported that they either participate in the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or support the country's defence as volunteers, 24.5% support the country's defence financially.
Answering the question: "If it depended on you, what would you be ready to give up during negotiations with Russia?", only 17% of Russian-speaking citizens answered that they were ready to give up Ukrainian territories, 26% - the pro-Western vector of free development of Ukraine. 54% believe that Ukraine should not agree to any reduction of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as a condition for a peace agreement with Russia (only 27% believe that it should agree to it).
55% of this group believe in Ukraine's victory in the war with Russia (33% don't). And only 40% believe in the possibility of signing a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia in the near future (48% do not believe in it).
Finally, after Ukraine's victory and de-occupation of its territory, 47% of Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine would support a complete break of all relations with Russia, up to a comprehensive ban on Russian citizens entering Ukraine (39% would not support it).
So, the majority of Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine have something to say to Lavrov in his native language, if, of course, he wanted to listen to them.
Results of a public opinion poll conducted by the Razumkov Centre Sociological Service jointly with the Kyiv Security Forum from April 24 to May 4, 2025.
The face-to-face poll was conducted in Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Transcarpathian, Zaporizhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi regions and the city of Kyiv (in Zaporizhia, Donetsk, Mykolayiv, Kharkiv, Kherson regions – only in the territories controlled by the government of Ukraine and free of hostilities).
The poll was conducted using a stratified multi-stage sample with random selection at the first stages of sampling and quota selection of respondents at the final stage (when respondents were selected on the basis of gender and age quotas). The sample structure reflects the demographic structure of the adult population of the territories where the poll was conducted as of the beginning of 2022 (by age, sex, settlement type).
2,021 respondents aged 18 and over were polled. The sample theoretical error does not exceed 2.3%. However, additional systemic deviations of the sample may be caused by the consequences of Russian aggression, in particular, forced evacuation of millions of citizens.