Half of Ukrainians negative about Belarusians, suggests poll

September 2, BPN. A telephone survey by Ukrainian research agency Info Sapiens has revealed that 48.5 percent of respondents have a negative attitude towards Belarusians.

Reporters received the results of the poll from prominent Belarusian social scientist Andrej Vardamacki on September 2.

Some 38 percent of those polled said they had a good attitude towards Belarusians, while the rest found it difficult to answer.

Some 70 percent of respondents knew that Belarusian units were fighting for Ukraine, while 30 percent did not hear of them.

At the same time, 90 percent of those contacted said they knew about mass protests in Belarus in 2020.

About 77 percent of respondents knew about Belarusian democratic leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja.

Some 44 percent said Cichanoŭskaja “actively supports Ukraine in the war with Russia”; 25 percent said her position was vague; about 3 percent were convinced that she “supports Russia directly or indirectly.”

Most of those polled, 58 percent, agreed that Ukraine should completely break off relations with the Belarusian authorities until they halt their participation in Russia’s aggression, “even if this causes economic damage to Ukraine.”

About 38 percent suggested that the Belarusian democratic opposition should be supported; about 4 percent backed continued contacts with Alaksandr Łukašenka; 28 percent were in favor of seeking a “compromise” between these two options.

According to the survey, more than 83 percent of Ukrainians considered Łukašenka to be Belarus’ illegitimate head, while about 10 percent viewed him as legitimate.

More than 80 percent of those polled said his policy did not correspond to the Belarusians’ expectations and sentiment; only 5 percent said the opposite.

The survey of over 1,000 people was conducted on August 17-19.