Every third Ukrainian who went abroad because of the war is not interested in the situation in the Motherland. However, more than half of refugees occasionally or constantly view news from Ukraine. This is evidenced by the results of the conducted survey Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).
News from Ukraine
The study was conducted among refugees in Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic.
At the same time, 13% of our fellow citizens abroad receive information from Ukrainian media (YouTube, television, Telegram channels, social networks, etc.). Another 29% of respondents learn news about the Motherland from both Ukrainian and foreign sources. 13% of refugees receive information only from foreign media.
A third (34%) of respondents are not at all interested in information about Ukraine. Another 11% of respondents were undecided.
Will refugees vote in the elections?
In addition, the majority of Ukrainian refugees do not show any political activity. Only a third of all respondents would vote in the elections (if they were held in the near future) at polling stations abroad.
“If parliamentary elections were announced in Ukraine, 31% of Ukrainian refugees would rather or unequivocally vote for them (12 of them unequivocally), another 33% answered “it’s hard to say for sure, 50 to 50″. The rest would rather or unequivocally not would vote”, – note the researchers of KMIS.
Preservation of the Ukrainian language
Most refugees speak Ukrainian at home. This was said by 57% of respondents. 21% of respondents speak Russian and Ukrainian in their families. Only Russian is used at home by 19% of Ukrainians. Also, 3% of respondents in the family speak the language of the country they moved to.
Refugees lose contact with Ukraine
“A significant part of Ukrainian refugees are losing (or have already lost) their connection with Ukraine. Unfortunately, this was completely expected and in any case we would have lost part of the citizens. However, the question remains open as to what part of the citizens will be able to be returned and what it makes sense to do this. On the one hand, the state, Ukrainian civil society and ordinary citizens should play their role in maintaining contact with citizens abroad, keeping in touch with them and motivating them to return. On the other hand, communication cannot be one-way , that is, Ukrainians abroad also have their own “sphere of responsibility” and should be motivated to return and make relevant efforts to maintain ties with Ukraine,” says Anton Grushetskyi, executive director of KMIS.
