Four in five Ukrainians want Kyiv to keep hitting Russian oil refineries even if Washington cuts aid, a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) poll found.

Graph 2: "The USA is demanding that Ukraine stop attacking Russian oil refineries and is threatening Ukraine with the termination or limitation of assistance... What is better to do?" Share of respondents, %, October 16-25, 2026. Source: Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS)

Some 80% of respondents said the strikes should continue even if the US stops or limits its support, while 11% said they should stop and 8% were undecided, according to a KIIS press release published on October 28. The question set out a scenario in which the US threatens to end or curb help with intelligence and Starlink terminals while Russia makes no commitments and remains free to keep attacking Ukraine's energy system and homes.

Washington has spent weeks pushing Kyiv the other way. US President Donald Trump struck a diesel deal with Vladimir Putin on October 9 after Kyiv refused to halt its drone campaign against Russian refineries, and US envoys then told Ukraine it would get no reward for stopping. The strikes have taken a large share of Russian refining capacity offline, as the refinery damage ledger shows, and Kyiv says it will stop only if Moscow ends its own attacks on Ukraine's grid.

KIIS interviewed 828 adults by telephone between October 16 and October 25 in all government-controlled regions. The formal margin of error is up to 4.4 percentage points, with an unquantified extra bias from wartime conditions, the pollster said.

Some 63% said they were ready to endure the war for as long as necessary, 5% said about a year and 21% said a few months to half a year, with 11% undecided, in the same survey. The figure has recovered from a low of 48% in late April and has barely moved through the pressure of October.

Source: Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) press releases, January-October 2026

Some 76% said Ukraine should keep up armed resistance even if Russia tries to freeze Ukraine into submission by leaving people without power, heating and sewage, practically unchanged since August-September. Resolve was weakest in the east, where 58% backed resistance and 24% said Kyiv should comply with Russia's demands.

In a separate question, 62% said they trust President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and 35% did not, compared with 43% trust and 52% distrust among respondents polled on October 8-9. KIIS said the jump was most likely a “rallying around the flag” effect following US pressure, while noting that methodological differences could explain part of the gap.

"Despite the pressure factors outlined above, Ukrainians remain steadfast in repelling the enemy: the majority are ready to endure the war as long as necessary, and insist that despite a possible severe winter, Ukraine should not accept Russian peace terms, and believe that even at the risk of losing USA support, it is necessary to continue striking Russian refineries," said KIIS executive director Anton Grushetskyi.

He added a warning for the government: "Ukrainian society wisely mobilized for unity during this difficult period, but the Ukrainian authorities must also learn the right lessons."