A sociologist on mobilisation

The head of the Department of Social and Political Processes of the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Sociological Sciences Oleksandr Reznik, has published an article on a pressing and important theme: “Ukrainian citizens' perception of military mobilisation and their readiness to fight should the Russian-Ukrainian war escalate”.

Establishing public opinion about military mobilisation requires taking into account the state of public consciousness in the third year of an exhausting war. If people are asked directly about their attitude to mobilisation, respondents may dissemble and give a “socially desirable” and “patriotic” answer. If, however, they are asked what those closest to them think or how they act, a person will usually be more frank, since it is ostensibly not about their own position. The survey results showed that in March 2024 the largest share of the population (less than half) believed that there are different scenarios, with some avoiding mobilisation and some ready to go to war. A quarter of Ukrainians believed that citizens of conscription age in their circle who are fit by health try to avoid mobilisation. Only one in ten respondents, by contrast, stated that this category is for the most part ready to be mobilised.

Despite certain linguistic and macro-regional divergences in the perception of military mobilisation, respondents were also asked about their own role should the war against Russian aggression escalate or continue for a long time. As might be expected, mobilisation potential is predictably found mainly among young men. Unconditional response to mobilisation, however, should be expected among young men with higher levels of education and among residents of the Central macro-region. Among young men with a low level of education, correspondingly, the argument for responding to mobilisation would be the front line approaching their place of residence. Among Ukrainian women the threat of a prolonged escalation of the war against Russian aggression brought out three scenarios of possible behaviour: 1) young and financially secure women living in the Western and Central macro-regions will work and provide such non-military help as they can (money, work, blood donation and so on); 2) older and financially impoverished women will try simply to survive; 3) young, financially secure and Russian-speaking women living in the Eastern macro-region will try to leave the country.

Source: the website of the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation: https://dif.org.ua/article/spriynyattya-gromadyanami-ukraini-viyskovoi-mobilizatsii-ta-ikhnya-gotovnist-voyuvati-u-razi-zagostrennya-rosiysko-ukrainskoi-viyni