Seventy-seven percent of Ukrainians want their country to remain a single unified state, according to two new surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center in Ukraine and Russia.
The polls also revealed that Russians support Vladimir Putin and Crimea’s secession from Ukraine.
Among Ukrainians, 77 percent say Ukraine should remain united, compared with 14 percent who think regions should be permitted to secede if they so desire. In Ukraine’s west, which includes the central region around Kyiv (Kiev), as well as portions of the country that border Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, more than nine-in-ten (93 percent) think their nation should remain unified. A smaller majority (70 percent) in the country’s east – which includes areas along the Black Sea and the border with Russia – also prefer unity. Only in the breakaway territory of Crimea do more than half (54 percent) voice support for the right to secede.
Additionally, only 41 percent of Ukrainians think the current government is having a good influence on the country.