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Politics12 outlets ran this3 min read

Ukrainians divided on ceding Donbas for peace, poll shows

A majority reject territorial concessions, while a significant minority are open to them, according to a Kyiv poll.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Ukrainians divided on ceding Donbas for peace, poll shows

What this story says

  • 62 percent of Ukrainians are ready to continue fighting the war for as long as necessary, a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) poll found.
  • 61 percent of Ukrainians reject ceding the Donbas region to Russia in exchange for security guarantees, according to the same KIIS poll.
  • 35 percent of Ukrainians are open to ceding the Donbas region in exchange for security guarantees, the KIIS poll indicated.
  • The KIIS poll surveyed 1031 respondents between October 8 and 16.

Who covered it

Left 71%(5)Centre 0%(0)Right 29%(2)

Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 5 of the 12 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

50/100

Craft

60/100

Hype

40/100

12 sources · methodology

Thin on the right so far

Only 2 of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

A majority of Ukrainians are unwilling to cede territory in the Donbas region in exchange for security guarantees, according to a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). The survey, which took place between October 8 and 16 with 1031 respondents, also found that most Ukrainians are prepared to endure the war for an indefinite period.

Divergent views on territorial concessions

The KIIS poll revealed that 61 percent of Ukrainians reject the idea of ceding the Donbas to Russia in return for security guarantees. However, a significant minority, 35 percent, expressed openness to such a concession. Four percent of respondents were undecided.

Readiness to endure the war

Regarding the duration of the conflict, 62 percent of Ukrainians stated they are ready to endure the war for as long as necessary. An additional four percent indicated they are prepared to fight for one year. Twenty-one percent suggested a shorter period of several months to half a year, while 13 percent remained undecided.

What the coverage left out

None of the centre-rated outlets ran this story. None of the left-rated reports mentioned the detail that a difference in opinion on ceding Donbas was noted between October 8-9 (57% against) and later dates (62% against), within statistical error, as stated in the full report by Novinky.cz. None of the right-rated reports mentioned the specific figures for Ukrainians ready to endure the war for one year (four percent), several months to half a year (21 percent), or those undecided (13 percent), as detailed in the full report by Novinky.cz.

Tags:#UkraineWar#PublicOpinion#Donbas#PeaceTalks#KIISpoll

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 19 Oct 2026, 16:45, and will add the sides that appear.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

5 rated outlets

  • The left-rated reports led on the finding that a majority of Ukrainians reject ceding Donbas. Novinky.cz, in its full report, stated that 61 percent of Ukrainians rejected ceding Donbas in exchange for security guarantees, while 35 percent agreed. Euromaidan Press reported that support for fighting on rose to 62% after new US pressure. Fakti.bg highlighted that 61% of Ukrainians reject handing over Donbas to Russia. Gwara Media noted that the share of Ukrainians against concessions on Donetsk region increased from 57% to 62% after the announcement of the “diesel agreement” between the United States and Russia.

Centre

0 rated outlets

No outlet rated centre has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.

Right

2 rated outlets

  • The right-rated reports focused on the majority of Ukrainians being against territorial concessions. n-tv reported that a majority of Ukrainians are against withdrawal from Donbas in exchange for security guarantees, citing the KIIS poll where 61 percent of respondents rejected such a move. Korrespondent.net’s headline stated that Ukrainians were determined about the transfer of Donbas to Russia, with most being stable against rejection in exchange for security assurances and prepared to endure war.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Ukrainians divided on ceding Donbas for peace, poll shows?
Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 71% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 29% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 12. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Ukrainians divided on ceding Donbas for peace, poll shows left or right?
Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
Is the coverage of Ukrainians divided on ceding Donbas for peace, poll shows biased?
Ukrainians divided on ceding Donbas for peace, poll shows is one event reported by 12 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Ukrainians divided on ceding Donbas for peace, poll shows?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Ukrainians divided on ceding Donbas for peace, poll shows?
12 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
How many Ukrainians are ready to continue fighting the war?
According to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 62 percent of Ukrainians are ready to endure the war for as long as necessary. An additional four percent indicated they are prepared to fight for one year.
What percentage of Ukrainians reject ceding Donbas for security guarantees?
The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll found that 61 percent of Ukrainians reject ceding the Donbas region to Russia in exchange for security guarantees. This indicates a strong majority opposition to such territorial concessions.
How many Ukrainians are open to ceding Donbas for security guarantees?
A significant minority of Ukrainians, 35 percent, are open to the idea of ceding the Donbas region in exchange for security guarantees, according to the KIIS poll. This suggests a notable portion of the population is considering such a compromise.

Read it at the source

12 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

5

Centre

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

Right

2

Not rated

5

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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