64 percent of Ukrainians have a negative attitude towards Stalin

The majority of Ukrainians – 64% – have a negative attitude towards Stalin, and only 5% have a positive attitude. Another 23% are indifferent to him. These are the results of a sociological survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in early July.

As reported in the official press release of the Institute, KIIS regularly asks questions about the attitude towards Stalin in the form of “How do you personally feel about Stalin in general?”. The respondent could choose one of the answers: “with admiration”, “with respect”, “with sympathy”, “indifference”, “with dislike, irritation”, “with fear”, “with disgust, hatred”. The first three options actually correspond to a positive attitude towards Stalin, and the last three to a negative one.

Even before the Revolution of Dignity, a minority of the population (23%) had a positive attitude towards Stalin. Although, at the same time, the negative attitude still did not dominate (37%). Until 2021, the situation did not change significantly. Although, the general mood was rather in the direction of a decrease in the share of those who had a positive attitude towards Stalin.

Today, after the full-scale invasion, the public opinion of the population crystallized, and the majority of Ukrainians clearly declared their negative attitude towards Stalin.

At the same time, sociologists compared the dynamics of attitudes towards Stalin among the population of Ukraine and Russia (according to data from the Levada Center) over the past 10 years. If for ten years in Ukraine and Russia, approximately the same proportion of the population had a positive attitude towards Stalin, then later in Ukraine in general, there were fewer sympathizers of the Soviet dictator, and, in Russia, on the contrary, attachment to him grew rapidly. And now, the majority of the population has a positive attitude. In Russia, between 2012 and 2019, the share of those who positively perceived Stalin increased from 28% to 59% (and today, most likely, the indicators are not lower).

It is noteworthy that in all regions, an absolute minority favors Stalin (from 3% in the West to 12% in the East). In addition, in all regions, the share of those who have a negative attitude towards Stalin significantly outweighs those who have a positive attitude towards him. Last year in the South and East, the share of those, who had a positive and negative attitude, was practically the same. Now, it is the negative attitude that dominates, KMIS emphasizes. At the same time, certain regional peculiarities in moods are nevertheless perceived. If in the West and in the Center, a clear majority has a negative attitude towards Stalin, then in the South – a little more than half (55%) (positive – only 6%). In the East, 45% have a negative attitude (another 35% have an indifferent attitude, and 12% have a positive attitude).

It is also indicative that among Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine, the attitude towards Stalin is somewhat better. However, in fact, the negative attitude prevails among all categories (even among Russian-speaking Russians, 50% have a negative attitude, and only 21% have a positive attitude).

There are also little age-related differences in the attitude towards Stalin, although they are quite insignificant. Yes, among Ukrainians aged 60+, there are slightly more people who have a positive attitude (8-9% against 3-5% among younger respondents), but, even among them, more than 60% have a negative attitude towards the Soviet dictator.

“The attitude towards Stalin is another bright value marker that demonstrates the difference (chasm) between Ukrainians and Russians,” comments Anton Grushetskyi, deputy director of KMIS. – In fact, even when ten years ago, the attitude towards Stalin was not favorable; he was subjected to unequivocal condemnation in Ukrainian society. For instance, in one of the polls before the Revolution of Dignity (which covered both the Crimea and the entire Donbas), more than 80% of respondents believed that the Stalinist repressions of the 1930s could not be justified. Only approximately 5% were ready to justify them with “the need for industrialization and overcoming backwardness.” That is, the thesis about the “effective manager” in Ukraine did not work and did not displace all the crimes of the Soviet dictator in the public consciousness. At the same time, this thesis worked successfully (and still works) in Russia, where the positive attitude towards Stalin grew by leaps and bounds. Ukrainian society reacted like a normal healthy society to more and more information about Stalin’s crimes (perhaps a little slower than we would like, but still, the dynamics were positive). Instead, Russian society turned out to be very sick and reacted accordingly.

“The attitude towards Stalin is another bright value marker that demonstrates the difference (chasm) between Ukrainians and Russians,” comments Anton Hrushetskyi, deputy director of KIIS. – In fact, even when ten years ago, the attitude towards Stalin was not favorable; he was subjected to unequivocal condemnation in Ukrainian society. For instance, in one of the polls before the Revolution of Dignity (which covered both the Crimea and the entire Donbas), more than 80% of respondents believed that the Stalinist repressions of the 1930s could not be justified. Only approximately 5% were ready to justify them with “the need for industrialization and overcoming backwardness.” That is, the thesis about the “effective manager” in Ukraine did not work and did not displace all the crimes of the Soviet dictator in the public consciousness. At the same time, this thesis worked successfully (and still works) in Russia, where the positive attitude towards Stalin grew by leaps and bounds. Ukrainian society reacted like a normal healthy society to more and more information about Stalin’s crimes (perhaps a little slower than we would like, but still, the dynamics were positive). Instead, Russian society turned out to be very sick and reacted accordingly.

It is also impossible not to pay attention to the important point that if the majority of Russians have a positive attitude towards Stalin, this is another proof of the moral decline of “ordinary Russians.” The soil of such Stalin’s “fans” is fertile for the approval of terror by the Russian state against its neighbour and the development of cannibalism of the “ordinary Russians” themselves.

The survey was conducted from July 6 to 20, 2022, by computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers. 2,000 respondents living in all regions of Ukraine (except the Autonomous Republic of Crimea) were interviewed. The survey was conducted with adults (aged 18 and older) citizens of Ukraine who, during the survey, lived on the territory of Ukraine (within the borders controlled by the Ukrainian authorities until February 24, 2022).

Photo – discours.io.