Belarusian politics and culture in Ukrainian public opinion

The study analyzes how Ukrainian public attitudes toward Belarusians, the Belarusian state, the Belarusian authorities, the democratic opposition, and Belarusian culture shifted between 2022 and 2025. It focuses primarily on how the war and the Belarusian authorities’ involvement in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine influenced the perception of Belarus and its citizens within Ukrainian public opinion.

The findings indicate that attitudes toward Belarusians deteriorated significantly after 2022 but did not devolve into a uniform negative consensus. While approximately half of the respondents hold negative or somewhat negative views of Belarusians, about a third maintain a positive or somewhat positive attitude. The study also reveals that a portion of Ukrainians distinguish between the Belarusian state and Belarusian citizens, although the image of Belarus as an authoritarian state dependent on Russia remains dominant.

The study separately examines factors influencing attitudes toward Belarusians—whether positive or negative—including age, language, financial status, and regional differences. It also analyzes Ukrainian attitudes toward Alexander Lukashenko, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and Belarusian volunteers, as well as Ukraine’s policies regarding the Belarusian authorities and the democratic opposition. The study concludes with a section on the limited presence of Belarusian culture in Ukrainian public consciousness and a comparison with other Ukrainian sociological studies.

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