Despite frustration over country's direction, majority of Ukrainians want future in NATO, EU, survey finds

Nearly 70% of Ukrainians support joining the EU, and over 60% of Ukrainians support joining NATO amid growing frustration with the government, according to a new survey by the Socis Center for Social Research.

The survey, conducted between July 28 and Aug. 2, polled 2,000 Ukrainians about their views on the outlook of the war and attitudes towards the government.

If a referendum for Ukraine to join the EU was held in the near future, only 22.2% of those polled would vote against it, survey results show. If a similar vote was held to join NATO, 29.5% of respondents said they would vote it down.

This most recent polling was conducted days before Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.K. and former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi claimed that Ukraine would "never" become a member of NATO on Aug. 3. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has since sought to clarify the statement, claiming that the remarks had been "taken out of context," noting that the ambassador's full answer referred primarily to the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), not NATO.

Despite an optimistic views of Ukraine's potential future accessions, over half of the respondents, 55.6%, believe the embattled nation is moving in the wrong direction.

The survey found that a total of 35.1% of respondents believe the general situation in Ukraine is likely to worsen in the next year, compared to 23.3% who believe it will improve.

The biggest issues negatively impacting the country, respondents say, is governmental corruption, attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure, and declining living standards. 50.5% of those polled believe that corruption in the country is "very high"

When asked about their views on the nation’s political leaders, survey participants said they most trust former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and Zaluzhnyi.

The survey shows strong support for Fedorov following weeks of protests against his dismissal by President Zelensky. 62.5% of respondents said they had mostly negative attitudes regarding his removal.

Fedorov’s trust rating soared from 35% to 65% following his ouster, surpassing Zelensky, according to separate opinion poll published by Rating Group on July 22.

Fedorov, on Aug. 3, said that he still hopes to return to his previous post.