Said it before. Will say it again. There is minimal public support for far-right parties in Ukraine.
Here’s some results from different polls over the past few months.
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll, February 5-16
Who would Ukrainians vote for in a presidential election?
- Oleh Tyahnybok, Svoboda leader: 1.1%
- Dmytro Yarosh, onetime Kremlin boogeyman: 2.6%
- 3.7% far-right in total
And just among decided voters:
- Oleh Tyahnybok, Svoboda leader: 2.9%
- Dmytro Yarosh, onetime Kremlin boogeyman: 6.5%
- 9.4% in total
As for votes for the Verkhovna Rada:
- Oleh Tyahnybok’s Svoboda: 2.6%
- Dmytro Yarosh’s National Movement: 1.2%
- Pravyy Sektor: 0.4%
- 4.2% in total
And just among decided voters for the Verkhovna Rada:
- Svoboda: 6.2%
- Yarosh’s National Movement: 2.9%
- Pravyy Sektor: 0.9%
- 10% in total
Yes, the maximum the far-right can pull – even when all the undecideds and won’t-voters are excluded (around 50 percent of the entire sample!) – is one in ten Ukrainians.
Razumkov Centre poll, April 22-26
The Razumkov Centre calculations for a presidential vote, from those who said they planned on voting:
- Oleh Tyahnybok: 1.6%
- Dmytro Yarosh: Also 1.6%
- 3.2% far-right in total
For Verkhovna Rada votes, from those who said they planned on voting:
- Svoboda: 4.8%
- Pravyy Sektor: 0.7%
- Yarosh’s National Movement: 0.0%. Yup.
- 5.5% in total.
Razumkov Centre/DI poll, May 11-16
This Razumkov Centre/DI poll only asked about Verkhovna Rada votes, from those who said they planned on voting:
- Svoboda: 3.6%
- Yarosh’s National Movement: 1.8%.
- Pravyy Sektor: 0.7%
- 6.1% in total.
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll, May 13-18
The most recent bit of business here about presidential elections:
- Tyahnybok, 1.3%
- Yarosh: 1.8%
- 3.1% far-right in total
And just among decided voters:
- Tyahnybok, 2.9%
- Yarosh: 4%
- 6.9% in total
This poll didn’t ask about Verkhovna Rada voting (or if it did, they haven’t reported on it yet).
The takeaway?
Obvious.
For perspective:
- 49.7 percent of Austrians voted for a far-right presidential candidate last Sunday
- Nine percent of Americans think the government adds fluoride to their water for “sinister reasons”
- Seven percent of Americans think the moon landing was faked
- Four percent of Americans think reptilians run the world
