The press release was prepared by Anton Hrushetskyi, executive director of KIIS

From September 20 to October 3, 2024, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted its own all-Ukrainian public opinion survey "Omnibus", to which, on its own initiative, it added a question about the religious self-identification of the population, and one of the customers added a question about the attitude to the creation of the united Orthodox Church and to the Law on the Prohibition of Certain Religious Organizations. By the method of telephone interviews (computer-assistedtelephoneinterviews, CATI) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers (with random generation of phone numbers and subsequent statistical weighting) 2,004 respondents were interviewed in all regions of Ukraine (territory under the control of the Government of Ukraine). The survey was conducted with adult (aged 18 and older) citizens of Ukraine who, at the time of the survey, lived on the territory of Ukraine controlled by the Government of Ukraine. The sample did not include residents of territories that are temporarily not controlled by the authorities of Ukraine (at the same time, part of the respondents are IDPs who moved from the occupied territories), and the survey was not conducted with citizens who went abroad after February 24, 2022.

Formally, under normal circumstances, the statistical error of such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.3) did not exceed 2.9% for indicators close to 50%, 2.5% for indicators close to 25%, 1.7% - for indicators close to 10%, 1.3% - for indicators close to 5%.

Under the conditions of war, in addition to the specified formal error, a certain systematic deviation is added. Factors that can affect the quality of results in "wartime" conditions were previously cited by KIIS.

In general, we believe that the obtained results are still highly representative and allow a fairly reliable analysis of the public moods of the population.

There are different approaches to determining the religious self-identification of the population. In our regular monitoring surveys, we use the following approach: first, respondents were asked the question "To which denomination or religion, if any, do you belong?", where Orthodoxy / Greek Catholicism / etc. were listed, i.e. Then, if the respondent answered that he considers himself Orthodox, an additional question was asked: "And which Orthodox Church do you belong to?" and the respondent was read only two options: "The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (created after the Unification Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and part of the bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate)" and "Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate". The option "Orthodox Church without specification" was not read, but could be marked if the respondent himself insisted on it. The table below shows the dynamics of religious self-identification of the population of Ukraine during 2020-2024.

As can be seen, compared to July 2022, religious self-identification has hardly changed. Most Ukrainians - 70% - consider themselves Orthodox which is 81% among all Orthodox residents of Ukraine. Most of them - 56% among all respondents - enroll themselves in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Another 7% enroll themselves in the Orthodox Church "without specification" and 6% - in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Next come atheists (12%) (at the same time, it is worth noting that among the "other" answers, some respondents said that they were "agnostics", "non-believers", etc., that is, they did not want to count themselves among "atheists", but called themselves to a certain extent close identification) and those who enroll themselves in the UGCC (7%). No more than 3% of respondents chose other options.

Table 1. To which denomination/religion does the respondent identify himself

In all regions[1] the majority consider themselves Orthodox and in all regions the majority (50% in the West, 63% in the Center, 55% in the South and 50% in the East) enroll in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

At the same time, there are certain regional differences. Thus, from West to East, the share of those who consider themselves "simply Orthodox" increases from 6% to 15% (and the share of those who identify themselves with the UOC MP is 5-8%, regardless of the region). At the same time, if in the West 20% identify themselves as Greek Catholics, then in other regions - no more than 1%.

In addition, in the West, in the Center and in the South, 3-4% enroll themselves in Protestant or other Christian churches. In the East, this indicator is 11%.

There is also a difference in the share of atheists. Relatively least of them are in the West (7%) and East (11%). A little more - in the Center (15%) and in the South (14%). (Regarding atheists separately, it should be added that among 18-29-year-olds there are 20% of them, among 30-69-year-olds - 10-11%, among 70+ years - 8%).

Table 2. To which denomination/religion does the respondent identify himself: regional dimension

The majority of Ukrainians - 61% - support the idea that there should be only one Orthodox Church in Ukraine. Do not support - 16%, and for another 20% this issue is indifferent.

Graph1. Now there are several Orthodox Churches in Ukraine. How do you feel about the idea that there should be only one Orthodox Church in Ukraine?

In all regions, the support-non-support balance is positive and the proportion of those who support is significantly higher than those who do not support. At the same time, the level of support decreases from West to East. If in the West 71% support, then the indicator decreases to 45% in the East (in the East do not support - 20%, others are mostly indifferent).

Graph2. Attitude towards the creation of a single Orthodox Church in the regional dimension

Among the possible unification options, the most supported is the approach where the hierarchs and ordinary priests of the UOC MP join the OCU and become part of it. A total of 71% of respondents have decided on their opinion on this issue. Among them, the majority - 78% - supported this approach in general (in terms of the entire population, this is 55%).

Most of the respondents believe that such joining is possible only for hierarchs and ordinary priests of the UOC MP who have not tarnished themselves with ties to Russia. This option is supported by 47% of all respondents and 66% of those who have decided on this issue.

The option, when simply all the hierarchs and priests of the UOC MP join the OCU and become part of it, was supported by 8% of all respondents and 11% of those who decided

Graph 3. And in the case of the implementation of the process of unification of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which of these options would you support?

In all regions, the approach where only the hierarchs and ordinary priests of the UOC MP, who have not tainted themselves with ties to Russia, simply join the OCU and become part of it enjoys the greatest support.

Table 3. How the unification of the Orthodox Churches should take place in the regional dimension

When asked which of the hierarchs is better suited to the position of the head of the unified Orthodox Church, Epiphanii retains the unequivocal leadership - 50% of all respondents would like to see him at the head of the unified Orthodox Church (76% among those who have decided on their opinion). This is followed by options such as another hierarch from Ukraine (8% among all respondents and 12% among those who decided), Onuphrii (respectively, 6% and 9%) and another hierarch from outside Ukraine (2% and 3% ). A third of the respondents answered that they do not have a formed position or that they do not care.

Graph 4. Which of the Orthodox hierarchs, in your opinion, best suits the position of the head of the unified Orthodox Church in Ukraine?

In all regions, most respondents spoke about Epiphanii.

Table 4. Who should be in the regional dimension

In September 2024, the Verkhovna Rada approved the draft Law on Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Activities of Religious Organizations in Ukraine, which allows, under certain conditions, to ban the activities of those organizations that are connected to Russia. The absolute majority of Ukrainians - 80% - support the approval of this Law. Do not support - 16%, and another 4% have not decided.

Graph5. The Verkhovna Rada approved the Law, which allows, in the case of available evidence, after a certain time to ban the activities of religious organizations that are connected to and dependent on Russia. Do you support the approval of this Law or not?

Although support for the Law is slightly higher in the West and in the Center, in fact in all regions the vast majority of Ukrainians support the adopted Law (from 71% in the East to 83% in the West).

Graph6. Attitude to the Law on the Prohibition of Certain Religious Organizations in the regional dimension

A. Hrushetskyi, comments on the survey results:

The religious situation retains considerable sensitivity in Ukrainian society. At the same time, we see an increased demand for unity. As in society in general, so in the religious sphere, Ukrainians want to see more unity / consolidation (especially around the idea of joint resistance to the Russian aggressor).

We see that the majority of Ukrainians currently support the idea of creating a single Orthodox Church. At the same time, the respondents make fair reservations against the fact that people who stained themselves with cooperation with Russia should become part of the single Orthodox Church.

The relevance of the problem of cooperation with Russia is also manifested in the issue of banning religious organizations that are associated with the aggressor. We can see that the absolute majority of Ukrainians have approved this Law. Although we did not directly ask about the banning of the UOC MP (and the Law itself does not apply exclusively to the UOC MP), previous surveys by KIIS showed that the majority of Ukrainians support the banning of the activities of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine[2]. At the same time, according to the Law, there must be a reliable evidence base, so it is important that at the appropriate moment the competent authorities really provide convincing arguments for the public.

Annex 1. Formulation of questions from the questionnaire and distribution of answers in the section

religious affiliation

To which denomination or religion, if any, do you belong? / And to which Orthodox Church do you consider yourself??

Р2. Now there are several Orthodox Churches in Ukraine. How do you feel about the idea that there should be only one Orthodox Church in Ukraine?

Р3. And in the case of the implementation of the process of unification of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which of these options would you support?

Р4. Which of the Orthodox hierarchs, in your opinion, best fits the position of the head of the unified Orthodox Church in Ukraine?

Р5. The Verkhovna Rada approved the Law, which allows, in the case of available evidence, after a certain time to ban the activities of religious organizations that are connected to and dependent on Russia. Do you support the approval of this Law or not?