The interaction of Ukraine's Defence Forces with Ukrainian society: results of a nationwide survey

On 12 December specialists of the Research Centre for Humanitarian Problems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine presented the findings of the study “The interaction of Ukraine's Defence Forces with Ukrainian society”. The event was also attended by representatives of the social security department of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the strategic communications department of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the mobilisation department of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the central research institute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the methodological centre for personnel policy of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the news agency ArmiyaInform.

Donors, performers and partners

The study was carried out within the partnership between the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine and the Research Centre for Humanitarian Problems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The press release and the presentation were prepared by Serhii Dembitskyi, Deputy Director of the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Sociological Sciences.

The survey on which this report is based was conducted by the CATI studio of the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine in the course of the research project “The national resilience of Ukraine during the Russian-Ukrainian war: social configurations”. Funding was received from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine under the budget spending line “Support for research and scientific and technical (experimental) development of priority importance for the state” of budget programme KPKVK 6541230.

Technical support (access to IP telephony) was provided by the research agency Research UA, a partner of the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine.

Parameters of the study

The research instrument was developed by sociologists of the Research Centre for Humanitarian Problems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in cooperation with Serhii Dembitskyi (Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine).

The results of the survey represent the adult population of Ukraine (aged 18 and over), excluding the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the temporarily occupied territories of the south and east of Ukraine.

The survey was conducted by computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) using a random sample of mobile numbers.

The fieldwork stage of the study ran from 17 to 28 November 2025.

For a sample of 1,007 respondents, the statistical margin of error at a 95% confidence level and a design effect of 1.1 does not exceed 3.2%.

Key findings

1. Ukrainian society shows substantial support for using the role model of a serviceman who defended the country and remains an active social actor in civilian life. Unequivocal support was expressed by 46.4% of respondents and qualified support by 37.6%. Less pronounced is support for preferences that members of Ukraine's Defence Forces might enjoy when being appointed to public office. Here the modal group consisted of respondents expressing qualified (53.4%) rather than unqualified support (20.9%).

As might be expected, respondents who at the time of the survey were serving in Ukraine's Defence Forces or had been demobilised gave approving answers to these questions more often. This is especially so for preferences in appointments to public office (unqualified support is characteristic of 35.3% of that group).

2. As the key motives for joining Ukraine's Defence Forces, Ukrainian society names a decent social contract and patriotism. The elements of such a social contract are decent pay (noted by 77.8% of respondents), clearly defined terms of service (75.3%) and social guarantees and benefits (72.9%). Patriotism was described in the survey as the wish to take part in defending Ukraine (indicated by 75.5% of respondents).

Men of conscription age who are not in Ukraine's Defence Forces and have not been demobilised point somewhat more often to pay and terms of service and speak noticeably less often of civic duty and the example of others' heroism. That is, pragmatic considerations are more pronounced for this group.

Telling, in terms of how society assesses the various motivating factors for joining Ukraine's Defence Forces, is the comparatively low — and, among the alternatives used, the lowest — relevance of a military career. This motive was noted by 42.7% of respondents.

3. Society is fairly sensitive to problems that may undermine trust in Ukraine's Defence Forces. Such problems can arise at every stage of the interaction between the Defence Forces and society — mobilisation, provision during service, support for veterans. On average, respondents report problems in three of the five areas studied. Only 7.3% of respondents believe that no such problems exist at all.

So, despite a positive attitude towards Ukraine's Defence Forces, society also retains a fairly high level of criticism of the problematic aspects of how they function.

4. Thoughts about possibly joining Ukraine's Defence Forces are associated with the wish to take part in defending Ukraine and with the belief that there are no problems in providing servicemen with equipment. It should be added that this part of the analysis examined the answers of men of conscription age who are not part of the Defence Forces and have not been demobilised.

In effect, it is in the group with patriotic attitudes and without fears about problems in equipping personnel that thoughts of possibly joining Ukraine's Defence Forces become more widespread. An important nuance here is that this pattern is characteristic of men aged 18 to 49. In the group of men aged 50 to 59, by contrast, despite a high recognition of the importance of patriotism and no great fears about the provision of servicemen, thoughts of joining the Defence Forces are not widespread to any significant degree.

5. Assessment of the country's current capacity to wage war does not directly affect thoughts about possibly joining Ukraine's Defence Forces. But such assessments are connected with views on the motives that respondents consider important for joining the Defence Forces. Where assessments are poor, the number of relevant motives falls somewhat; where they are satisfactory and especially where they are good, it rises. In other words, ideas about Ukraine's capacity to wage war affect plans to join the Defence Forces indirectly, through the motives for joining. This interactive relationship also holds for the key motive — the wish to take part in defending Ukraine — in the group of men of conscription age who are not part of Ukraine's Defence Forces and have not been demobilised.

More detailed results in the form of charts are given in the presentation of the study's findings.