Nearly two-thirds of Germans now want to send some Ukrainian refugees home, survey shows
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Germany is souring on its massive population of Ukrainian refugees, according to a new survey.
62% of Germans were in favor of sending able-bodied Ukrainian men back to Ukraine immediately, per an INSA survey commissioned by German news outlet Bild and published Oct. 18.
Over 1.25 million Ukrainians were in Germany as of February of this year. The survey found that only one in three has a job, and that Germany is paying 6.3 billion euros annually in German citizen's benefits to 700,000 Ukrainians.
The survey further found that 66% of those polled are against paying citizens' benefits to Ukrainian war refugees.
Millions of Ukrainians fled the country following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. 5.7 million remain abroad, per UN data. Germany is the largest single host nation of this refugee population.
The new survey consequently holds implications for attitudes towards Ukrainian refugees globally.
A February survey by Ukrainian think tank the Center for Economic Strategy found that the share of Ukrainians abroad who ever planned to return home had dropped from 74% to 43% over the preceding 2 years.
Nonetheless, the same UN data show that the number of Ukrainians abroad has fallen by over a million since the start of 2025.
