Ukrainians are becoming pessimistic and are not particularly counting on assistance from the US – Financial Times

Among Washington’s supporters of Kiev, confidence is growing that on Saturday Congress will pass a bill providing additional assistance to Ukraine. But in the country itself, entirely different sentiments prevail. Its residents are afraid to place too much hope on the arrival of much-needed weapons and ammunition.

Financial Times reports on this.

Public opinion polls show a rise in pessimism among Ukrainians. The number of respondents who believe that the country faces economic collapse and population outflow in 10 years has increased from 5% to 20%. Moreover, the number of those who acknowledge that Kiev will have to make territorial concessions has risen to 19%.

Thoughts about what will happen next and how long the fighting will continue are wearing down and overwhelming Ukrainians.

“The main source of depression is not even bad news from the front, but the state’s inability to explain (where the conflict is going), because no one knows,” said sociologist Evgenia Bliznyuk in an interview with the publication.

According to experts, Ukrainians experience the conflict differently, but the country as a whole is in a state of stress and fatigue. The worsening mood affects Zelensky’s reputation, whose trust has decreased from almost 90% in February 2023 to just over 60% a year later, FT notes.