The press release was prepared by Volodymyr Paniotto

During February 4-9, 2025, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted its own all-Ukrainian public opinion survey "Omnibus", to which, on its own initiative, added questions about favorite holidays. By the method of telephone interviews (computer-assisted telephone interviews, CATI) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers (with random generation of phone numbers and subsequent statistical weighting) in all regions of Ukraine (the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine), 1,000 respondents were surveyed. The survey was conducted with adult (aged 18 and older) citizens of Ukraine who, at the time of the survey, lived in the territory of Ukraine controlled by the Government of Ukraine. The sample did not include residents of territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities (at the same time, some of the respondents are IDPs who moved from the occupied territories), and the survey was not conducted with citizens who left 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 4.1% for indicators close to 50%, 3.5% for indicators close to 25%, 2.5% for indicators close to 10%, 1.8% for indicators close to 5%.

In wartime, in addition to the formal error mentioned above, a certain systematic deviation is added. Factors that may 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.

 As a particular holiday approaches, it becomes more relevant in the minds of respondents and may seem more popular. Therefore, KIIS conducts a research of the popularity of holidays once a year in February, and not on the eve of a particular holiday. We ask, “Which of these holidays are the most important or favorite for you?” and read to the respondent all the official state holidays (see Annex 1).

The research showed that in general, Ukrainians treat holidays with love and respect, only 3% of respondents did not treat any official holidays as important or favorite.

The most popular holidays among Ukrainians (see Table 1) remain Christmas (70%) and Easter (69%). Independence Day of Ukraine (54%) and New Year (50%) also have a high level of support. Defenders of Ukraine Day is celebrated by 44% of the population.

At the same time, former Soviet holidays continue to lose popularity. Victory Day in 2025 is supported by only 11% of Ukrainians. This is one of the lowest rates among all public holidays - only Labor Day (5%) has lower.

Table 1. What holidays are the most popular (important or favorite) among the population of Ukraine, February 2025

In graph 1, we see the dynamics of attitude towards Victory Day since 2013 (attitude towards all holidays in the Annex, see Table Д1).

Graph 1.  How has the popularity of Victory Day changed from 2013 to 2025.

Which holidays are the most popular (important or favorite), %.

Attitude towards Victory Day on May 9 have undergone significant changes. In 2010, it was one of the most important holidays, considered so by 58% of the population, in 2013 – 40%. By 2021, its popularity had almost halved compared to 2010, and only 30% considered it the most important holiday. And in 2023, only 13% of supporters of this holiday remained, less supporters only for Labor Day. In 2024 and 2025, there were even fewer supporters — only 11%.   

Victory Day is slightly more popular among those over 60 (15%), while it is 11% among other age groups. It is also slightly more popular among rural residents (16%) compared to urban residents (10%). The region where the respondent lived before February 24 also has a small impact on the popularity of the holiday (West – 9%, Center – 11%, South – 14%, East 13%), but the difference is not significant.

 The sharp decline in the popularity of Victory Day is explained, first of all, by the full-scale war unleashed by Russia. In Ukraine, this holiday is increasingly perceived as an element of Russian propaganda and militarism, which has almost lost its symbolic meaning for Ukrainian society. Victory Day is no longer associated with peace, but rather with the aggression that Russia carries out under this slogan.

Annex 1. Formulation of the question from the questionnaire

Which of these Ukrainian State holidays are the most important or favorite for you? Please indicate no more than 5 holidays. NO MORE THAN 5 ANSWER OPTIONS

Annex 2. Tables

Which of these holidays are the most important or favorite for you? Please list no more than 5 holidays.

TableД1. Dynamics in Ukraine as a whole from 2013 to 2025, Dynamics in Ukraine as a whole from 2013 to 2025,%

*) telephone survey (CATI), in previous years it was F2F interview