During the war, the number of Ukrainians with a positive attitude toward Poles halved – survey

Ukrainians’ attitudes toward Polish citizens are rapidly deteriorating, with the number of Ukrainians who hold a positive view of their neighbors halving since the start of the war.

This is reflected in a survey published by Rzeczpospolita.

In 2022, 83% of Ukrainians surveyed had a good or very good opinion of Poles. This figure dropped to 67% in 2023 and has plummeted to just 41% in 2024. Another 53% of respondents this year said they feel neutral toward Poles.

When asked, “Why does Poland help Ukraine?” 6% of respondents in 2022 chose the answer “Because they consider part of the land their own.” This figure has now risen to 20%.

Meanwhile, Poland is among the European countries that have accepted the largest number of Ukrainian refugees. As of late July, 976,205 Ukrainian refugees resided in Poland, second only to Germany, which hosts 1,110,600.

Furthermore, Poland saw the highest absolute increase in the number of Ukrainian refugees between the end of June and July 2024, with an additional 10,430 people arriving.

At the same time, nearly 50% of Ukrainian women who relocated to Poland do not plan to return home, while only 42% intend to go back to Ukraine.

Polish authorities have consistently opposed the idea of deploying their peacekeepers to Ukraine.