24% of Donbas residents believe that peace comes in 2016
Only every fourth resident of Donbas believes that the military conflict will be over next year. This is confirmed by results of sociological research conducted by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology and ordered by Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center and Dopomozhemo TV.
Contrary to the previous opinion, more than half of Donbas residents believe that 2016 will be better than the current year. They believe that the new year will be more peaceful, and the economic situation in the region will get reasonably better.
"When we were conducting the same research last December, we were very surprised to get positive and optimistic opinion about the future. It was quite a paradoxical situation: half of the towns observed active military actions, it was scary, there was a shortage of essential and basic products, but the local residents of these towns believed that the conflict would be settled and the situation would change for the better, – Natalia Kharchenko, the executive director at KIIS, shared. – The similar situation is preserved this year. The level of optimism among Donbas residents became even higher… Despite all the challenges that befell on our compatriots, they led not only to some disappointments, but also promoted a certain social cohesion and development of mutual help. 3/4 of the surveyed families say that they have been provided with assistance when got into difficult situation. It means that people are trying to help each other and feel support and assistance. This is an important factor that helps a great number of Donbas civilians not give up and hope for the future".
Note. On December 15, during the roundtable meeting on "Humanitarian map of Donbas needs: results of the year and expectations of civilian population" KIIS presented the results of research that was conducted during November 24–December 5, 2015. 2,113 respondents older than 18 were polled through telephone and computer interviewing (CATI). Residents of 30 most distressed towns of Donetsk and Luhansk regions participated in the surveying.
