Paul Goble
Staunton, Jan. 1 – “The only positive consequence of the war is the near-complete disappearance of regional differences [of opinion] in Ukraine,” Volodymyr Paniotto says. “In 2021, there was strong regional differentiation on most issues, now these differences have practically disappeared.
But in place of these much commented upon regional differences, the director of Kyiv’s International Institute of Sociology says, now grounds for social stratification have emerged, including most prominently differences among those who are refugees in Europe, those who didn’t move, and those in the occupied territories” (meduza.io/feature/2025/01/01/kak-tretiy-god-voyny-izmenil-ukrainu-i-chto-zhdet-stranu-v-2025-m).
In addition, Paniotto made the following additional comments on changes in Ukrainian society over the last year:
• Fewer Ukrainians have died in each year since Putin’s expanded invasion began in 2022 than did from the coronavirus pandemic in 2021.
• Two-thirds of the six million Ukrainians who have moved abroad won’t return to Ukraine even if there is peace, but many of them will retain their Ukrainian passports.
• Ukrainians continue to use the Russian language but they have dramatically increased their opposition to instruction in Russian in their country’s schools. In 2019, only eight percent favored ending instruction in Russian; by the end of 2023, that share had risen to 52 percent.
• Ukrainians have been ready to negotiate an end to the war since it began. As of last fall, a third of them said they would be prepared to give up some territories, but there is no talk about recognizing these territories in the course of negotiations as part of Russia.
Friday, January 3, 2025
Putin’s Invasion has Led to ‘Almost Complete Disappearance’ of Differences between Eastern and Western Ukraine about West and Russia, Kyiv Sociologist Says
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