Over 57% of occupied Donbas residents consider themselves Ukrainian citizens

This is stated in the results of quantitative public opinion research conducted in the occupied territories of Donbas on October 7-31 by the New Image Marketing Group and published in the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia online media outlet.

"57.8% of residents of so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ and ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ called themselves Ukrainian citizens. Obviously, they keep a Ukrainian passport on a shelf. However, 41.6% of those who said goodbye to Ukraine live next to them. Among them, 34.8% have the DPR/LPR passports and 6.8% have Russian passports. It is likely that among these people there is a hidden percentage of those who hesitated and had been pressured by personal circumstances," the statement reads.

At the same time, it is noted that more than 42% of those living in the occupied territories have never thought about getting a Russian passport.

According to the research results, 80.8% of residents of the occupied territories have never thought about leaving these territories, while another 19.2% think about leaving but have not decided where to go.

The face-to-face interview was conducted with 1,606 respondents: 800 in the non-controlled part of Luhansk region and 806 in the non-controlled part of Donetsk region. Official 2014 statistical data were used to calculate the sample, adjusted taking into account available demographic data of IDPs who left uncontrolled territories.

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