Ukrainians see Maidan as event of the year – poll

Tuesday, December 30, 2014 - 10:09 (EET) Section: Latest news

Ukrainians see the Maidan and the Revolution of Dignity as a major political event of the year 2014.
Director of the Sociological Service at the Razumkov Center Andriy Bychenko said this, while announcing at Ukrinform the results of a national survey conducted jointly by the Razumkov Center and the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation.
“A relative majority of respondents – 40.8% – named the Maidan, the Revolution of Dignity the event of the year. For the first time in 15 years of research one event has become an event of two consecutive years – 2013-2014,” Bychenko said.
The second most frequently mentioned event is the war with Russia (30%). However, only 0.4% of those polled regard events in eastern Ukraine as a civil war, he said.
In third place are Ukrainian presidential elections (5.2%), followed by Russia’s annexation of Crimea (4.6%), the anti-terrorist operation in Donbas (3.1%), the signing of an association agreement with the EU (2.1%), Ukrainian parliamentary elections (1.7%), the change of power in Ukraine (1.6%), and the escape of former President Viktor Yanukovych (1.5%).
The world’s most significant event for Ukrainians was Russian aggression against Ukraine – 28.8%. In second place is the confrontation between the world and Russia and sanctions against Russia – 9.1%. The Maidan protests and the Revolution of Dignity were a global event for 6.3% of Ukrainians.
Most Ukrainians (25.5%) named President Petro Poroshenko the politician of the year 2014. In second place is Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk (14.7%), followed by Oleh Liashko (4%), Andriy Sadovy (2.9%), Oleksandr Turchynov (1.7%), Yulia Tymoshenko (1.4%), Anatoliy Hrytsenko (1.2%), Vitali Klitschko and Volodymyr Parasiuk (1%).
However, Poroshenko was also named the disappointment of the year 2014. With 17%, he is second on the list among politicians after Viktor Yanukovych (32.4%). Yatseniuk is third (8.6%), and 5.5% named all Ukrainian politicians the disappointment of the year.
The change of the situation in Ukraine in most areas was described by citizens as deterioration. The only area where the number of positive responses exceeds that of negative responses is Ukraine’s international image. Forty percent believe that the situation here has changed for the better, and 32% think it has worsened.