Most Ukrainians believe ban on Russian artists, films is mistake

More than one-third of Ukrainian citizens see an attack on freedom of speech in the country and almost as many are convinced that Ukrainian authorities react poorly to the domination of pro-Russian propaganda media. At the same time about half of those interviewed (53.5 percent) believe that the ban on Russian TV channels in Ukraine is a mistake, according to an all-Ukrainian poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) from Feb. 28 to March 11.

According to the survey, 33.9 percent of those polled in March believe that an attack on freedom of speech is taking place in Ukraine (this percentage remained the same as in September 2018). Meanwhile 35.4 percent adhered to the opposite opinion that there are a lot of pro-Kremlin propaganda media in Ukraine, and the state and the society react poorly to it (in September their number was 30.2 percent). About 28.8 percent of respondents could not choose an answer or refused to answer, although the percentage of such respondents decreased significantly over the last year (in February 2018 it was 37.7 percent).

About half of those interviewed in March (53.5 percent) believe that the ban on Russian TV channels in Ukraine is a mistake and only leads to restriction of citizens’ rights (in February 2018 their number was 43.7 percent, in September some 49.6 percent). Approximately every third citizen (31.7 percent) adheres to the opposite opinion and believes that the ban on Russian TV channels in Ukraine is a necessary step to protect the state. The number of people who choose this option declined from 36.6 percent in February 2018. Another 14.7 percent of respondents found it difficult to answer or refused to answer this question.

The introduction of quotas of the Ukrainian language on radio and TV is supported by 32.2 percent of survey participants, while 42.2 percent of respondents do not support it.

The public opinion poll was conducted from Feb. 28 to March 11, 2019 by a personal interview with 2,004 respondents older than 18 years living in 129 settlements in all regions of Ukraine (except for the occupied Crimea and the Donbas territories not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities). The margin of error does not exceed 4.7 percent.

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