Pew has gone into Ukraine looking for the most elusive commodity: the truth, and it is surprising yet understandable. Ukrainians apparently don't trust any pols, internal or external but they want to be Ukraines, east to west.
Most Ukrainians Want to Maintain Current Borders…A clear majority of Ukrainians agree that their country should remain a single, unified state, according to a pair of new surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center in Ukraine and Russia – after Crimea’s annexation by Russia, but prior to recent violence in Odessa and other cities. The survey in Ukraine also finds a clearly negative reaction to the role Russia is playing in the country.
Politically this is very important when contemplating whether Russia will be going into Ukraine with troops in the future. With a unified national will, an invading force expecting flowers will more likely face an animated resistance. In other words, Putin would be looking at his own Afghanistan, not Crimea.
Let's see how a trio of pivotal politicians are seen in Ukraine, divided by east and west for comparison:
I was most fascinated by the fact that a large undecided vote disappeared since the 2011 survey... I guess civil upheaval will get your attention, huh? Anyway, This is a great survey with exhaustive detail. I recommend that anyone who wants to have an opinion on Ukraine should look at it, because it reflects the opinions of the only ones who really count.
Having made the proposition that invading Ukraine now might be Afghanesque I leave you with a poll of Russian attitude taken by PEW simultaneously and included in their report (more reason to click and read through):
Yeah, maybe a little scary
Crossposted at REINVENTING YOUR WORLD