Desire for immediate punishment: What do Ukrainians think about corruption?

For more than half of Ukrainians, immediate punishment of corrupt officials is important, even if this requires breaking laws. These findings were the result of a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

This is evidenced by the results of a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). As sociologists note, after a large-scale war, the No. 1 problem for Ukrainians is corruption. Therefore, in December 2023, KIIS conducted a survey asking Ukrainians how exactly corrupt officials should be punished.

Thus, more than half of the respondents - 55% - want the speedy punishment of corrupt officials, even if it is through violations of laws.

42% of Ukrainians believe that it is necessary to punish according to the law, even if it takes a long time. The remaining 3% were undecided on their answer.

As sociologists emphasize, the less respondents trust the courts, the greater the demand for punishment as soon as possible, even if the law is broken.

Thus, among respondents who trust the courts, 41% talk about the need for the fastest possible punishment. At the same time, among respondents who do not trust the courts, 63% do so. A similar trend is observed in terms of trust in the police.

At the same time, the opposite trend occurs in the case of trust in the president. In this case, those who trust the president are more insistent on speedy punishment.

In all regions except the East, the prevailing desire is for the speedy punishment of corrupt officials. In the East, thoughts were divided exactly in half.

“Corruption remains one of the biggest irritants in Ukrainian society. Against the backdrop of critically low trust in the courts and the prosecutor's office, more and more Ukrainians will not see legal ways to achieve justice. Each subsequent high-profile corruption case will be perceived even more emotionally. We already see that the majority of Ukrainians demand the punishment of corrupt officials, even those who violate the laws. In fact, this is an alarming trend, since it contradicts the development of a modern European rule of law state,” commented KIIS.