More than 6 in 10 Ukrainians would like to leave the country, poll finds

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne:Chart: Henry Kirby in London – August 3, 2015)

[Charts here http://www.bne.eu/content/story/bnechart-more-6-10-ukrainians-would-leave-country-poll-finds]

More than 6 in 10 urban Ukrainians would like to live in another country, according to a recent survey by international pollster TNS Global.

After a year of conflict in Ukraine’s eastern regions, residents appear to be considering emigration as the resultant economic downturn also continues to take its toll on the country.

The 61% of respondents who said they would move when surveyed in June of this year was a sharp increase from the 45% who said the same last November. 8% of those surveyed in June said that their move would only be temporary while the current situation stabilises, 10% said they would move permanently, and 27% said that they would like to move but are unable to.

Unsurprisingly, the region with the highest number of respondents who said they wanted to move was the east, where fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces has led to thousands of deaths. More surprising is the fact that next-highest region was Kyiv, the county’s capital, where 62% of respondents said that they would consider leaving the country.

Another study by the same polling company looked at how much Ukrainians trust domestic and Russian coverage of the situation in the east of the country.

Again, a clear east-west divide exists in respondents’ answers, with residents of Western and Central Ukraine expressing greater faith in the Ukrainian media. Western Ukraine saw 59% of surveyed residents saying they trust national news coverage, while 56% of the central region and 51% in Kyiv said the same.

In East Ukraine, however, nearly a fifth of respondents said that they trust the Russian media, while only slightly more said they trust Ukrainian outlets, at 19%.