Golovakha for Suspilne: on Ukrainians' attitudes and on current affairs

A long interview by Olena Removska with Yevhen Golovakha — Director of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine, Professor, Doctor of Philosophical Sciences — has been published on YouTube in the programme “Suspilne News”.

Recalling their previous meeting in the summer of 2022, the scholar, on the basis of the research of the Institute and of Ukrainian sociologists generally, characterised that time as one of heroic upsurge and of a consolidation unprecedented for Ukrainians. The modal position (that is, the most widespread) was this: the war will end in two or three months. With victory. It really was an astonishing time — on the one hand losses and horrors, on the other an emotional upsurge. The dominant emotion was pride. Pride is still in first place now. But no longer 75% — a little more than 50–60%. And those who feel sorrow were then, say, less than a third, and now it is a little more than a third. Fear and other negative emotions have also risen by 10%.

To the question “How long are you prepared to endure for the sake of victory?” both then and, on the whole, now, the main answer was: “for as long as it takes”. Every society has a certain potential for resistance. From this point of view Ukraine has a fairly high potential. Up to 60% of us are ready, because Ukrainians understand that what is at stake is the fate of Ukraine, of its freedom and its statehood. A change in attitudes among Ukrainians shows itself above all in attitudes towards the authorities. In Ukraine there is no sacralisation of power. And authoritarian mechanisms do not work. Democratic mechanisms, by contrast, are subtle and complex. To govern democratically, compromises must be sought. This applies to the conduct of mobilisation as well, Golovakha stressed.

There is a high level of trust in the Defence Forces, and the assessment of the commander-in-chief whose name was Zaluzhnyi was very high. But his dismissal did not affect the level of respect for the army. The more than 90% of trust that existed before General Zaluzhnyi's dismissal has remained. Zaluzhnyi is a landmark figure, a person with great symbolic capital who is associated in mass consciousness with the ability to repel the aggressor in the first, most terrible days and with the liberation of more than half the Ukrainian territory that was occupied in 2022.

To the presenter's question “Where will Ukraine's new leaders come from? How do you see it?” the sociologist replied: “That worries me a great deal too. It will be a big problem for Ukraine. But I can give one example — Serhii Prytula. He has already taken a niche in mass consciousness. When sociologists ask ‘Whom do you consider leaders of the political opposition?', about a quarter of the population names Poroshenko, and Prytula already has 17%.”

In the scholar's view, Euro-sceptic and NATO-sceptic politicians are not to be expected in Ukraine for the time being. If we win the war, there will be no place for them here. European integration always had many supporters among us, whereas NATO was feared. And now three quarters are for joining the Alliance. This has become a dominant of mass consciousness. Europe, NATO and away from our neighbour — that is the direction of our development. There will be no alternatives. And the dominant has already been determined. And this is not a mood — it does not change, Golovakha concluded.

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