Ukrainians named the main goal of Russian strikes on the economy - KIIS
The vast majority of Ukrainians believe that Russia attacks enterprises, ports, warehouses and other economic facilities in order to destroy Ukraine's economy, worsen living conditions and force the country to capitulate. This opinion was expressed by 92% of participants in a new sociological survey.
This is evidenced by the results of a study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), conducted on October 8-16, 2026 and published on October 19.
Ukrainians assessed the reasons for Russian attacks on economic facilities
Sociologists asked respondents to choose the explanation that best matches their understanding of the reasons for Russian strikes on the Ukrainian economy.
The question concerned attacks on civilian economic infrastructure, including seaports, warehouse complexes, gas stations and other facilities whose activities directly affect the operation of enterprises and the provision of the population.
According to the survey results, 92% of Ukrainians are convinced that Russia uses such strikes for economic exhaustion of Ukraine and to force acceptance of its conditions.
At the same time, 3% of respondents agreed with the statement that Russian attacks are only a response to Ukrainian strikes on economic facilities of the Russian Federation.
Another 2% of respondents believe that Russian troops attack exclusively facilities associated with the Ukrainian army and do not aim to destroy the economy or worsen living conditions of the civilian population.
Thus, a total of 5% of respondents supported alternative explanations of Russian strikes, which KIIS characterizes as close to Moscow's position.
Sociologists also studied the perception of the Russian information campaign
KIIS notes that Russian attacks on economic facilities are accompanied by an information campaign that presents them as allegedly forced response to Ukraine's actions.
In particular, the Russian side claims that strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure are a consequence of attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Russian economic facilities.
One of the research tasks was to find out how widespread such an explanation is among the Ukrainian population.
The results showed that only a small proportion of respondents agree with this interpretation, while the vast majority link Russian strikes to attempts to weaken Ukraine's economy and force it to make concessions.
Previously, Ukrainians assessed the goal of strikes on energy
In January 2026, KIIS conducted a similar study dedicated to Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Then 88% of respondents agreed with the explanation that Russia is trying to leave Ukrainians without electricity and heating in order to force the country to capitulate.
At the same time, 3% of respondents believed that Russian strikes are exclusively a response to Ukraine's actions. The same number supported the statement about attacks only on military targets.
It is important that the January and October studies concerned different categories of infrastructure. The first was dedicated to energy, the second - to economic facilities in general.
Therefore, the difference between the indicators of 88% and 92% cannot be automatically interpreted as an increase in the share of Ukrainians who share the corresponding assessment of Russian attacks.
Research methodology
KIIS conducted the survey on October 8-16, 2026 using telephone interviews. It involved 1031 adult citizens of Ukraine living in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government.
The sample did not include residents of temporarily occupied territories and Ukrainians who went abroad after February 24, 2022.
Under normal conditions, the formal statistical error of the general sample does not exceed 4% for indicators close to 50%. At the same time, researchers note that in wartime, answers may be additionally influenced by factors not covered by the standard error calculation.
Source: KIIS
