Survey shows most Ukrainians believe justice unattainable without trials for occupiers

A total of 75% of respondents to a survey believe that justice cannot be achieved without the arrest and trial of those responsible for the attack on Ukraine and war crimes.

Source: the Justice in the Context of Russian Armed Aggression study by the Rating sociological group, conducted with the support of Switzerland through the Peace and Human Rights Division

Quote: "75% of respondents disagree that justice can be achieved without the arrest and trial of those responsible for the attack on Ukraine and for war crimes. Only 22% agree that justice can be achieved under such conditions."

Details: Among the priorities for the Ukrainian government and society in ensuring justice, respondents most frequently cited holding the guilty accountable (55%), purging the government by removing and preventing those who collaborated with the Russians (46%), and finding missing persons and bringing back those deported (30%). Nearly a quarter of respondents mentioned establishing the facts of crimes and obtaining financial compensation, while one in five mentioned strengthening sanctions and freezing Russia's and its citizens' assets.

Half of the respondents say that ensuring justice for war victims primarily depends on the president. 37% of respondents see the parliament as responsible, while 35% attribute responsibility to the government. Nearly a quarter of respondents believe that citizens of Ukraine are accountable for this.

Almost 90% of respondents believe that in addition to judicial proceedings, additional mechanisms to ensure justice should be applied (such as creating commissions to remove public officials associated with a tainted regime from office, establishing the truth about wartime events, and compensating victims for the damage done).

Quote: "According to about 40% of respondents, amnesty may be granted to individuals convicted of crimes that did not result in loss of life, or on the condition of performing socially beneficial work for the country's restoration. 

According to about a quarter of respondents, providing important and truthful testimony and compensating victims may also serve as grounds for amnesty. Voluntary confession to a specific crime may be a condition for 20% of respondents. 14% of respondents consider amnesty for individuals guilty of committing war crimes during the war impossible under any conditions."

Note: The survey was conducted from 18 to 24 October 2023, among the residents of Ukraine aged 18 and older in all regions except for the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas, as well as areas where Ukrainian mobile communication was unavailable at the time of the survey. 

The results were weighted using the latest data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. The sample is representative by age, gender, and settlement type. The sample size was 2,000 respondents. The survey method used was CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing). The survey was based on a random selection of mobile phone numbers. The margin of error for the representativeness of the survey with a confidence level of 0.95 was not more than 2.2%.

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