Most Ukrainians fear corruption more than war

Most Ukrainians consider corruption to be a greater threat to the country's development than Russian military aggression.

This is evidenced by the results of a KIIS survey conducted in 2026.

While 65% of respondents in an open-ended questionnaire without prompts named war as the main challenge, and 29% named corruption, the situation changes when given a direct choice between these two factors. In this case, 54% of respondents say that corruption is a greater threat, while 39% say that Russia's military aggression is the greater threat. Another 7% were undecided.

Compared to May 2024, the share of those who do not have a clear position has decreased, while more people are undecided.

The survey also showed the dependence of assessments on the level of trust in Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Among those who do not trust the President at all, 76% consider corruption to be a greater threat, and only 16% - the war. At the same time, among those who fully trust the head of state, 52% already call war the main threat, and 42% - corruption.

A similar trend is observed in the attitude to possible compromises in the war. Among those who are ready to accept concessions for the sake of security guarantees, the opinion of corruption as a key problem prevails.

The study also showed a link between threat assessment and vision of the future. Among those who consider war to be the main problem, 72% are optimistic about Ukraine's future. Instead, among those who prioritize corruption, there are fewer optimists - 57%, and the share of pessimists is significantly higher.

At the same time, KIIS clarified the details of the survey. The survey was conducted on April 20-27, 2026, by telephone interviews among 1,005 respondents in the government-controlled territory of Ukraine. The sample included adults over the age of 18, including some internally displaced persons. Residents of the occupied territories and those who moved abroad after February 24, 2022 were not interviewed. The formal margin of error does not exceed 4.1%.

Photo: KIIS

In addition, sociologists recorded the level of long-term optimism of Ukrainians. Despite a slight decrease compared to January, it remains high: 63% of respondents believe in a positive future for Ukraine in 10 years, while 25% are pessimistic.

Андрій Колісніченко