{"id":216682,"date":"2022-10-08T15:02:38","date_gmt":"2022-10-08T12:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/?p=216682"},"modified":"2022-10-08T15:02:41","modified_gmt":"2022-10-08T12:02:41","slug":"ukraine-in-flames-212","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/ukraine-in-flames-212","title":{"rendered":"How Russia\u2019s war \u0441hanged Ukrainians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

The illegal \u201creferendums\u201d Russia has carried out in the occupied territories of Ukraine, parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, have been condemned by Ukraine and its international partners. Half of the locals either fled the occupation or were killed by the Russian war criminals, and those who stayed had been living under repression and terror and voted at gunpoint, so their \u201copinion\u201d clearly cannot be perceived as valid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How would the people have voted if the referendums had been held lawfully, though? 2014 surveys say the majority of Ukrainians living in the south and east of the country (even the occupied parts at the time) opposed the idea of Ukraine and Russia becoming one state, as well as the accession of their particular region to Russia. The sociological surveys of 2021-2022, right before the Russian large-scale invasion, show even bigger support for Ukraine\u2019s independence from Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sociologists agree that the trends of Ukrainians\u2019 increased opposition to Russia that had started long before February 2022 only strengthened after the full-scale aggression. And what is really important: there’s not much regional polarization regarding the issues of the Ukrainian geopolitical course, which were divisive for many years. Now Ukrainians are united more than ever in their vision of independent Ukraine and the inevitability of its victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guests:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n