According to Ukrainians, society is now dominated by pride and gratitude to veterans who protect the country.
This was stated by the Executive Director of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation Nataliya Kalmykova during the presentation of the sociological survey “Image of veterans in Ukrainian society”. The survey was conducted by the “Rating” group at the initiative of the Ukrainian Veterans’ Foundation of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine.
“The idea of the survey was born when it was realized that with the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the number of people undergoing military service, as well as the number of families of fallen soldiers, changed. The changes are significant. We will periodically conduct such surveys in order to understand the situation, respond in time with changes and development of support policies and information campaigns,” says Nataliya Kalmykova, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation.
It is predicted that at the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the number of veterans and their families and family members of the dead will reach 5 million
“We are completely changing the approach to the state’s provision of social guarantees to veterans. We are moving away from benefit-oriented programs and providing tools that defenders will be able to use,” says Oleksandr Porhun, First Deputy Minister of Veteran Affairs of Ukraine. — We are developing a transition system from a military career to a civilian one. Now this bill has already been sent to the president for signature. According to the results of the survey, it was understood that people are most worried about the possibility of unemployment. The UVF has already developed programs to support veteran businesses. The Foundation is developing new grants and projects that will enable veterans to create new businesses. We are establishing a new veteran enterprise based on the formula “defender works for defender”, which will expand employment after victory.”
At present, 40% of respondents believe that the salary level of military personnel directly participating in hostilities is optimal, 32% are convinced that the salary is lower than the required level, and a small part – 11% – consider it to be higher.
“The key markers of understanding the image of a veteran have already been formed. Half of Ukrainians have relatives who are related to the issues of the war or participated in it. Most of these people are among the youth who are currently fighting. It’s a shift in emphasis on who a veteran is: that it’s not an older person, but younger people. 46% of respondents associate veterans as participants of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO). However, young people more often support the stereotype that a “veteran” is a participant in the Second World War”, – Lyubomyr Mysiv, deputy director of the Rating Sociological Group.
“90% of surveyed Ukrainians trust the military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, veterans of the current war and veterans of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) of 2014-2021. 64% of respondents feel gratitude and 50% pride towards the veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war,” adds Mysiv.
On August 6-7, 2022, the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation together with the Sociological Group “Rating” conducted a survey among Ukrainians regarding society’s understanding of the image of veterans. Sample population: 1000 respondents. Survey method: CATI. The error of representativeness of the study with a confidence probability of 0.95: no more than 3.1%.
A video recording of the research presentation is available on Ukrinform’s YouTube channel.
