59 per cent of Ukrainians believe Zelenskyy is implicated in corruption at the highest levels of government, - poll. INFOGRAPHICS

Carthage: what do Ukrainians think about the investigation?

68.1 per cent of Ukrainians trust the NABU’s findings in the ‘Carthage’ case, whilst 59.1 per cent believe President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is implicated in corruption at the highest levels of government.

This is according to data from a sociological survey by Active Group, as reported by Censor.NET.

"Carthage"

Thus, 74.9 per cent of those surveyed are aware that NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have detained an SSU general and senior officials of the National Police. 16.5 per cent chose the response "I’ve heard something, but I’m not sure", whilst 8.6 per cent said "This is the first I’ve heard of it".

Among people aged 56–65 and 66+, 84.7% and 86.6% respectively are confident they know about the case, whilst among young people aged 18–25, the figure is 65.1%.

Trust in the evidence

68.1 per cent of those surveyed trust the NABU’s findings as part of the investigation into "protection of fraudulent call centres".

Of these, 22.8 per cent trust them completely, whilst 45.3 per cent tend to trust them. 21.1 per cent do not trust them: 16.8 per cent tend not to trust them and 4.3 per cent do not trust them at all, whilst a further 10.8 per cent are undecided. The highest levels of trust are shown by people aged 56–65 and 66 and over: 76.0 per cent and 79.3 per cent respectively.

Attitudes

"The most common emotion towards the authorities in connection with the revelations is anger, felt by 50.6 per cent of respondents. This is followed by shame (43.0 per cent), disgust (39.8 per cent), hatred (31.7 per cent), sadness (29.4 per cent) and helplessness (26.1 per cent). Surprise was cited by 13.1 per cent, fear by 12.1 per cent, indifference by 10.0 per cent, guilt by 4.6 per cent and joy by 4.5 per cent. A further 7.3 per cent were unable to answer," the study states.

Attitudes towards NABU and the President

Attitudes towards NABU improved among 35.3 per cent of respondents following high-profile arrests: significantly among 13.0 per cent and slightly among 22.3 per cent. They deteriorated among 6.9 per cent.

As for the SSU and the President, a deterioration in attitudes predominates. Attitudes towards the SSU deteriorated among 37.4 per cent of respondents and improved among 11.9 per cent. Attitudes towards Volodymyr Zelenskyy worsened among 36.4 per cent of respondents and improved among 7.4 per cent. Attitudes remained unchanged towards NABU for 51.6 per cent, towards the SSU for 44.6 per cent, and towards the President for 52.1 per cent.

The net change – that is, the proportion of those whose views have improved minus the proportion of those whose views have worsened – stands at +28.4 percentage points for the NABU. For the SSU, it stands at -25.5 percentage points, and for the President at -29.0 percentage points. NABU has a positive balance across all socio-demographic groups, whilst the SSU and the President have a negative balance across all.

The fight against corruption

Pollsters asked whether the high-profile anti-corruption cases of recent months indicate that the real fight against corruption is intensifying.

41.9 per cent of respondents agree: 7.3 per cent said "Definitely yes" and 34.6 per cent said "Mostly yes". The opposite view is held by 47.2 per cent: 34.9 per cent said "Mostly no" and 12.3 per cent said "Definitely no". A further 10.9 per cent are undecided.

According to 90.6 per cent of those surveyed, it is necessary to speak openly about suspicions of corruption within the authorities, even during wartime.

5.2 per cent hold the opposite view: 4.6 per cent said "Rather not" and 0.6 per cent said "Definitely not". A further 4.2 per cent were undecided.

Those responsible for corruption

Those surveyed most often hold the government as a whole and all ministers (55.0 per cent) and the president (49.2 per cent) responsible for corruption during the war. Next come the heads of the security and law enforcement agencies (42.6 per cent), the President’s Office (41.5 per cent) and members of parliament (30.9 per cent).

Judges were cited by 24.1 per cent, businesses exploiting corrupt schemes by 22.1 per cent, and the parliamentary majority by 18.2 per cent. Heads of regional and district administrations were mentioned by 14.6 per cent, mayors by 13.5 per cent, and heads of state-owned enterprises by 11.2 per cent. Local councillors were cited by 10.7 per cent, individual ministers by 10.5 per cent, whilst a further 7.6 per cent were unable to answer.

Zelenskyy’s involvement

59.1 per cent of those surveyed believe President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is involved in corruption at the highest levels of government. Of these, 33.6 per cent chose ‘Definitely yes’, and 25.5 per cent chose ‘Most likely yes’.

24.8 per cent consider him not involved: 18.4 per cent said "Most likely not" and 6.4 per cent "Definitely not". A further 16.1 per cent were undecided. Among men, 69.8 per cent consider the president to be involved, whilst among women the figure is 50.1 per cent.