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NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Even as air-raid sirens blare in wartime, Ukrainians wait for the traffic light to change
Anyone new to Ukraine notices the disconnect between the front line and much of daily life farther away. Complicated espresso drinks are still sold at service stations; pizza and sushi are still on offer; and rave parties still rave, even if they end at 11pm, in time for the midnight curfew. The desire for order is core to how Ukrainians cope in this fourth year of Russia's full-scale invasion. Traffic lights seem to be the most obvious sign of how Ukrainians hold onto normality. Red means stop. Green means go. There is no yellow light here, no caution, no chancing it. Even during air-raid alarms. 'Even when I walk my dog in the evening and there are no cars at all, I still wait at the kerb,' said Volodymyr Yeremenko, 63, a resident of Pryluky, a city of about 52,000 people about 145km east of Kyiv, who had come to the capital for a doctor's appointment. Spotting a foreigner in Ukraine is easy. They cross when the light is still red, or, God forbid, wander in traffic, something that is a hobby (or death wish) in cities like New York. Ukrainians have been known to shake their heads or to caution them not to cross. Ukrainians say strictly obeying traffic signals was a peculiarity here long before the war. Maybe it's a way to show they are more like the people in notoriously law-abiding street-crossing nations such as Finland or Germany. 'In Lviv, it's striking how people obey pedestrian traffic lights, even when there are no cars around,' wrote Johannes Majamaki, 24, a Finnish law student, on social media recently. Majamaki, who often visits Ukraine, posted a photograph of pedestrians waiting on a carless corner. 'It feels like being back home in Helsinki,' he noted. Putting firm numbers on how widespread law-abiding behaviour at traffic lights is in Ukraine is difficult. Pedestrians wait for the light at a crossing in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 20. Photo / Brendan Hoffman, the New York Times The Kyiv police did not respond to repeated questions for data on the number of tickets issued for crossing against a red light. The offence, a US$6 fine, is lumped together with offences by animal-drawn vehicles and errant bicycles, so it's impossible to parse out the pedestrian violations. But Anton Grushetskyi, executive director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, said he thought that waiting patiently at the light was a cultural habit. He said he typically crossed the street only on a green light. He said that was his custom, even if there were no cars, in 2005 and today, in the middle of the war. He added that he had not noticed any change in Ukrainians' street-crossing behaviour since the Russians invaded in February 2022 because the war had been normalised for most people. 'This is more a matter of habit — something the war hasn't really changed,' Grushetskyi said. 'The sum of all these habits creates the impression of normal life, which is something many people deeply need.' That doesn't mean that everyone always follows the rules in Ukraine. Plenty of government officials, for example, have been accused and convicted of taking money they shouldn't. While waiting for the light, Yehor Riabchenko, 16, admitted that he climbed a wooden fence last year when he wasn't supposed to. But he also fell and broke his elbow. On this Tuesday, he was rushing to the hospital to get stitches removed after a recent surgery for the injury when the air-raid alarm rang out. Still, he waited for the green. Yurii Ukrainets, 71, a retired military man, also waited patiently at the corner in Kyiv for the green pedestrian light during the air-raid alert because, he said, he had no desire to throw himself under the wheels of an oncoming car. What would happen if he ran across the street dodging cars? Chaos, that's what. 'Rules are rules,' said Ukrainets, who was on his way to a government office to check on his pension. 'Imagine my grandson is out there with my daughter, and they see me crossing against a red light. 'If I don't see them, but they see me, what will they think? 'Grandpa breaks the rules — so I can too.' I don't want to set that kind of example.' This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Written by: Kim Barker Photographs by: Brendan Hoffman ©2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukrainians open to limited territorial concessions for peace
A recent survey found that 43% of Ukrainians are willing to accept Russia's de facto occupation of some territories without legal recognition, provided that Ukraine receives security guarantees. However, Ukrainians are strongly opposed to the official recognition of the occupation or the transfer of Ukrainian territories to Russian control. Source: results of a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) survey conducted from 15 May to 3 June 2025 Quote: "Therefore, if we are asking about the official recognition of certain territories as part of Russia, then the vast majority (68%) will be against it. Ready to accept – 24% (note that we are talking about 'certain territories', not all occupied territories; depending on the territories, there may be significant differentiation). Also, the absolute majority – 78% – reject the transfer of territories controlled by Ukraine under Russian control. Only 15% are ready to accept this. The only option where there is at least room for discussion is de facto recognition of Russian control without de jure recognition. Even in this case, 43% are ready to accept, and 48% are categorically against." Details: The survey observes that if a peace plan includes security guarantees and other key components for Ukraine's future, over half of Ukrainians could, albeit reluctantly, accept such a scenario to end the war. Any option involving the official recognition of Ukrainian territories as part of Russia, or the transfer of non-occupied territories to Russian control, would be rejected. However, Ukrainians demonstrate pragmatic flexibility and are open to discussing a compromise involving de facto recognition of Russian control without de jure recognition. The results also suggest that when Ukrainians discuss "territorial concessions", they primarily interpret these as acknowledging Russia's temporary control over certain territories, without official recognition from Ukraine or the international community. Photo: Kyiv International Institute of Sociology For reference: The survey was conducted by KIIS from 15 May to 3 June 2025, during which it independently added questions about readiness for territorial concessions and conducted an experiment to assess how different interpretations of "territorial concessions" affect responses. Using telephone interviews based on a random sample of mobile numbers in all government-controlled regions of Ukraine, 2,004 respondents were interviewed (approximately 500 randomly selected respondents answered each of four question variants on territorial concessions). The survey included Ukrainian citizens aged 18 and above. Under normal circumstances, the statistical error for a sample of 2,004 respondents does not exceed 2.9%. For a sample of approximately 500 respondents, the error does not exceed 5.8%. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Over 40% of Ukrainians willing to compromise on 'de facto' recognition of Russian occupation for peace, poll shows
Some 48% of Ukrainians "categorically" oppose even a de facto recognition of Russian control of the occupied Ukrainian territories to achieve peace, according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) published on June 10. In turn, 43% of respondents said they would be willing to make the concession to reach a peace deal with Moscow. The news comes as Russia continues to push for territorial concessions from Ukraine as part of the ongoing peace talks. The survey suggests that Ukrainians are even less ready to accept a de jure recognition of the Russian occupation – 68% of respondents said they are categorically against such a step, while 24% were open to it. The strongest opposition – 78% – was against handing over control of Ukrainian territories that Russia does not currently occupy. Only 15% of respondents were willing to make that compromise. Russia currently occupies roughly 20% of Ukraine's territory. This includes the whole of Crimea occupied in 2014 and large parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts. Moscow illegally declared the annexation of the latter four regions in 2022 and insists on Ukraine's full withdrawal from them as part of a peace deal, even though it does not control them completely. The Kremlin is also pushing for a formal recognition of its hold over Ukrainian territories. While U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly signalled a willingness to U.S. recognition of the Russian occupation of Crimea, Ukraine has rejected the step, as well as its withdrawal from the territory it currently holds. The poll revealed that public opinion on territorial concessions has remained relatively stable over the past months. When asked whether Ukraine should give up territories to achieve peace — without specifying a de facto or de jure recognition of the Russian occupation — 52% said Ukraine should not take the step under "any circumstances." In comparison, 38% of respondents backed the compromise. These are almost the same figures as in December 2024, when 51% were opposed to the concession, while 38% were open to it. "Our survey shows that the issue of territorial losses is extremely sensitive for Ukrainians and, in particular, how exactly 'territorial losses' are interpreted plays a significant role," said Anton Hrushetskyi, executive director of KIIS, in a statement. "At the same time, this means that (un)readiness for territorial losses can become the subject of manipulation and information campaigns against Ukraine." The poll was conducted between May 15 and June 3. It involved 2,004 adult residents of the Ukrainian-controlled territories who were interviewed by telephone. Read also: Key to Russia's potential defeat lies in its economy We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Number of people ready to endure war for as long as it takes increases in Ukraine
Sociological survey data shows that 60% of Ukrainians say that they are ready to endure the war as long as necessary, while another 6% are ready to endure it for a year. Source: poll conducted by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), on 15 May–3 June Details: Sociologists note that the number of those who are ready to endure the war for as long as necessary dropped to 54% in March, while between March and May and early June, it rose to 60%. Another 6% are ready to endure for one year, which is a relatively long period. Meanwhile, 20% (24% in March) say that they are ready to endure a shorter period (a few months or six months). The remaining 14% were undecided. Infographics: Kyiv International Institute of Sociology It is noted that in all oblasts, fewer people said that they were ready to endure as long as necessary compared to the beginning of 2024. Meanwhile, the figure has increased in all regions compared to March 2025. Infographics: Kyiv International Institute of Sociology Sociologists also say that, regardless of age, more than half of all age groups are ready to endure the war for as long as necessary. Infographics: Kyiv International Institute of Sociology For reference: The KIIS survey was conducted from 15 May to 3 June 2025 by telephone interviews based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers (with random generation of phone numbers and subsequent statistical weighting). A total of 1,011 respondents living in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government were interviewed. The survey was conducted among adult citizens of Ukraine (aged 18 and older) who, at the time of the survey, were on the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government. The sample did not include residents of territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities (although some of the respondents are IDPs who relocated from Russian-occupied territory), nor was the survey performed with persons who fled the country after 24 February 2022. Formally, under normal circumstances, the statistical error of such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.3) did not exceed 4.1% for indicators close to 50%, 3.5% for indicators close to 25%, 2.5% for indicators close to 10%, and 1.8% for indicators close to 5%. In times of war, a certain systematic deviation is added in addition to the specified formal error. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
As ceasefire talks loom, most Ukrainians oppose elections without full peace deal with Russia
The majority of Ukrainians, 71%, do not support holding elections before a full peace deal, even in the case of a ceasefire and security guarantees, according to a poll published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on May 14. The institute conducted the survey ahead of potential ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey. President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet in Turkey on May 15 to launch the first direct negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow since 2022, though the Kremlin has not revealed whether the Russian leader would attend himself. According to the survey, most of the respondents believe that elections must be held only after a peace agreement and a complete end to the war. Some 25% of Ukrainians say that elections should be held already after a potential ceasefire or even immediately. This figure has increased by 6% since March 2025. In the meantime, the number of respondents who believe that elections should be held only after the war is completely over has decreased from 78% to 71%. Kyiv and its partners have called upon Russia to agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting on May 12 – a proposal Moscow has ignored. The majority of respondents across all Ukrainian regions spoke out against holding elections before a peace deal, though the western regions had the highest number of opponents. The poll was conducted between May 2 and May 12 among 1,010 citizens over 18 years of age living in the territories controlled by Ukraine. Russian propaganda has widely used the issue of elections in Ukraine to discredit the Ukrainian leadership. Mocow has claimed that Zelensky is no longer a legitimate president, as his first term was originally meant to end on May 20, 2024. Russia's full-scale invasion and the subsequent declaration of martial law in Ukraine meant elections have been impossible to hold, and Zelensky's term has been extended, something constitutional lawyers say is allowed under Ukrainian law. Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed a resolution on Feb. 25 to hold elections after "a comprehensive, just, and sustainable peace is secured" in the country. Read also: Zelensky's trust rating rises to 74%, highest since 2023, poll shows We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
