18% of Mykolaiv residents do not know whether they will leave the city if the Russian Federation resumes its offensive in the south

Jazz at sunset in Mykolaiv, June 2024. Photo: NikVesti

More than half of Mykolaiv residents are not going to leave their homes in the event of an escalation of the military situation near the city.

This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the Sociological Group «Rating» on behalf of the International Republican Institute (IRI) in April-May 2024, writes NikVesti.

54% of residents are not going to leave Mykolaiv in the event of an escalation of the military situation near the city. Another 6% answered that under such conditions they would go abroad, 8% — to another region, and 4% — to another settlement in the region. Another part of the townspeople answered that they would join the Armed Forces (7%) or had no plan (18%).

The results of the survey conducted by the Sociological group «Rating», screenshot

At the same time, 58% of the citizens are not going to leave Odessa, another 10% plan to go abroad if the military situation near the city worsens. 6% of Odessa residents plan to go to another region, 4% to another settlement of the region. Another 6% will go to war, and 14% have no plan at all.

Even in the event of a repeated attack, 56% of citizens plan to stay in Kyiv, and 6% plan to go abroad. Another 8% plan to move to another region, 5% to another settlement of Kyiv region. 13% say they will go to fight, 11% do not know what they will do.

The survey was conducted by the Sociological group «Rating» on the order of the Center for Analysis and Sociological Research of the International Republican Institute in 21 cities of Ukraine (Kyiv and all regional centers where the security situation allowed conducting the survey) from April 13 to May 14, 2024, using face-to-face interviews at respondents' homes. The sample consisted of 16,800 citizens aged 18 and over.

The resulting data in each city were weighted by gender and age using national statistics (as of January 1, 2022). The statistical error for each city does not exceed ±3.5%. The average reach of respondents was 49%. The survey was conducted with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Survey of residents of Mykolaiv in 2023

Last year, a survey by the Sociological Group «Rating» commissioned by the International Republican Institute (IRI) showed that 92% of Mykolaiv residents are proud to be residents of this city. Most of them answered that they do not plan to leave the city in the event of a military escalation.

The survey also showed that almost half of the residents of Mykolaiv (47%) assess the condition of bomb shelters in the city as terrible or bad.

Mykolaiv residents also responded last year that they approve of the activities of Vitalii Kim, the head of the RMA. The level of positive attitude towards the administration is the highest among the cities of Ukraine. Attitudes toward Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych were almost equally divided among those interviewed.

About 56% of Mykolaiv residents also answered that their family's economic situation has worsened over the past 12 months. At the same time, 13%, on the contrary, note an improvement.