A petition on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine calling for the mobilization age limit to be lowered to 55 has reached the number of votes required for consideration.
According to the platform on the government’s website, the petition was submitted on July 27 and, as of October 14, had gathered the 25,000 votes required for consideration.
“Practical experience in carrying out combat and special missions demonstrates the need to revise the regulations to lower the upper age limit to 55,” the petition states.
According to the petition’s author, men aged 55–60 in most cases experience significant age-related changes in health and chronic illnesses, which substantially reduce their physical endurance in extremely challenging field and combat conditions.
Furthermore, according to the author, staffing units with personnel based on their physical capabilities will help improve the overall combat readiness and mobility of military units.
Furthermore, in her view, citizens in this age group are highly qualified specialists whose work in the civilian sector and at critical infrastructure facilities provides substantial support to the country’s economy.
In this regard, the author of the petition proposes: to draft and submit to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine a bill amending the Law “On Military Duty and Military Service” and the Law “On Mobilization Preparation and Mobilization,” which would lower the age limit for military service during martial law from 60 to 55 years for enlisted personnel, sergeants, senior noncommissioned officers, and officers, as well as establish a provision granting the right to voluntary discharge from military service to service members who have reached the age of 55 during martial law.
A general mobilization is currently in effect in Ukraine, covering men subject to military service between the ages of 25 and 60.
As previously reported, a petition posted on the Cabinet of Ministers’ website failed to garner the number of votes required for consideration. The petition called for allowing the demobilization of military personnel over 55 years of age who have served more than three years; lowering the upper age limit for conscription from 60 to 58 years; demobilize men over 55 who are eligible for a civilian pension for working in hazardous conditions.
CABINET OF MINISTERS, military service, mobilization, PETITION, UKRAINE
Ukrainians’ positive attitude toward Bulgaria in August 2026 declined compared to the previous phase of the study: 42.7% of respondents view the country positively, down from 53.8% in March. At the same time, Ukrainians with a neutral attitude became the largest group—47.6%, according to the Experts Club Information and Analytical Center.
According to the results of the August survey, 11% of Ukrainians have a completely positive attitude toward Bulgaria, while 31.7% have a mostly positive attitude. A neutral stance is held by 47.6% of respondents. A mostly negative attitude was expressed by 6.8%, a completely negative attitude by 0.6%, and another 2.3% were undecided.
Thus, the combined share of negative assessments is 7.4%, and the balance between positive and negative attitudes is +35.3 percentage points. Despite a decline in positive ratings, favorable assessments of Bulgaria are nearly six times higher than negative ones. At the same time, nearly one in two respondents expresses neither a positive nor a negative attitude toward the country.
Compared to March 2026, the changes are quite noticeable. In the previous survey, 14.2% of respondents viewed Bulgaria entirely positively, and another 39.6% viewed it predominantly positively. The overall positive rating stood at 53.8%, the neutral rating at 42.4%, while negative assessments accounted for only 2.3%.
Over the course of five months, the share of positive responses fell by 11.1 percentage points—from 53.8% to 42.7%. Negative attitudes increased by 5.1 percentage points—from 2.3% to 7.4%—while neutral attitudes rose by 5.2 percentage points to 47.6%. The balance of positive and negative assessments fell from approximately plus 51.5 percentage points in March to plus 35.3 percentage points in August.
At the same time, the “mostly positive” category saw the sharpest decline—from 39.6% to 31.7%—while the share of entirely positive responses fell from 14.2% to 11%. Thus, the deterioration in the indicators occurred simultaneously due to growth in both the neutral and negative segments.
Maksym Urakin, founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center and a candidate of economic sciences, had previously drawn attention specifically to the significant share of uncertain or neutral perceptions of Bulgaria.
“This result indicates not so much indifference as the lack of an active Bulgarian presence in Ukraine’s information space,” Urakin noted. In his view, the problem lies not so much in an established negative image as in the country’s insufficient visibility to the Ukrainian audience. More active communication in the areas of economic, humanitarian, and other practical cooperation could help foster a more defined attitude.
The latest round of the survey partially confirms the validity of this assessment: the share of neutral respondents has once again approached half. At the same time, unlike in March, the share of negative responses has also increased, although it remains significantly lower than the share of positive responses.
The survey was conducted in August 2026 using self-administered online questionnaires from the SunFlowerSociology panel among 800 Ukrainian citizens aged 18 and older. The previous round of the survey in March also included 800 respondents; the sample was representative by age, gender, and region, with a maximum theoretical margin of error of ±3.5 percentage points for indicators at the 50% level.
ACTIVE GROUP, BULGARIA, CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE, EUROPEAN UNION, EXPERTS CLUB, international relations, PUBLIC OPINION, SOCIOLOGY, UKRAINE, URAKIN
Brazil delivered a new batch of medicines to Ukraine under an international humanitarian aid program, the Brazilian Embassy in Kyiv reported.
The shipment was received in October by the Health Department of the Zakarpattia Region in Uzhhorod.
The donated medicines are intended to treat patients with secondary progressive forms of multiple sclerosis, adults with moderate and severe rheumatoid arthritis, as well as children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
The Brazilian Embassy noted that the new shipment continues bilateral cooperation in the humanitarian sphere and is aimed at supporting Ukraine’s healthcare system amid ongoing humanitarian challenges.
“This new contribution reaffirms Brazil’s firm support for Ukraine and reflects the strong strategic partnership between the two countries, based on longstanding historical and cultural ties,” the embassy’s statement said.
The Brazilian side also stated its intention to continue developing bilateral cooperation and to provide assistance to Ukraine in the humanitarian sphere.
The new batch of medicines represented another delivery of Brazilian humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Source: Brazilian Embassy in Kyiv
According to Experts Club, Ukrainians’ attitudes toward India in August 2026 worsened compared to the previous survey round: 31.5% of respondents view the country negatively, while 17.2% view it positively. At the same time, the group with a neutral attitude remains the largest—48.3%, reports the Experts Club Information and Analytical Center. Experts.news
According to the results of the August survey, 4.9% of Ukrainians have a completely positive attitude toward India, and 12.3% have a mostly positive attitude. A neutral stance is held by 48.3% of respondents. A mostly negative attitude was expressed by 26.6%, a completely negative one by 4.9%, and another 2.9% were undecided.
The balance of positive and negative assessments stands at minus 14.3 percentage points. By this measure, India has the second-lowest result among the countries surveyed, after China, whose balance stands at minus 25.4 percentage points. At the same time, a distinctive feature of perceptions of India remains the very large neutral group: nearly half of those surveyed express neither a positive nor a negative assessment.
Compared to March 2026, negative attitudes have noticeably intensified. In the previous survey wave, 4.2% of respondents rated India entirely positively, while 13.8% rated it mostly positively. The overall positive rating stood at about 17.9%, the negative rating at 23.5%, and 55.5% of respondents expressed a neutral attitude.
Thus, the share of positive assessments remained virtually unchanged—17.9% in March versus 17.2% in August. In contrast, negative attitudes rose by 8 percentage points—to 31.5%—while the share of neutral responses fell by 7.2 percentage points. The balance of attitudes worsened from approximately minus 5.6 percentage points to minus 14.3 percentage points.
This trend sets India apart from most other countries in South and Southeast Asia, where the survey typically shows a predominance of neutral assessments with a positive balance. In India’s case, neutrality also dominates; however, among those who have formed a clear opinion, negative responses outnumber positive ones by nearly two to one.
Maksym Urakin, Ph.D. in Economics and founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center, emphasized that when assessing relations with major international partners, one should not limit oneself to trade statistics alone. According to him, reputation, trust, humanitarian presence, and a sense of partnership at the societal level are also important. That is precisely why economic ties must be considered alongside the extent to which a country’s presence is understood and perceived by the Ukrainian public.
The latest wave of the survey shows that, in the case of India, the main change was not a decrease in the positive group but a shift of some neutral assessments toward the negative. At the same time, nearly half of Ukrainians still hold a neutral position, which leaves significant room for further shifts in public perception.
The survey was conducted in August 2026 using an online self-administered questionnaire in the SunFlowerSociology panel among 800 Ukrainian citizens aged 18 and older. The sample is representative by age, gender, and region; the maximum theoretical margin of error for indicators at the 50% confidence level is ±3.5 percentage points.
ACTIVE GROUP, EXPERTS CLUB, INDIA, international relations, PUBLIC OPINION, SOCIOLOGY, SOUTH ASIA, UKRAINE
According to Experts Club, nearly half of Ukrainians—49.7%—had a positive view of Greece in August 2026, while only 3.9% of respondents expressed a negative view. At the same time, 44.2% of those surveyed held a neutral position. Compared to March, positive assessments have declined slightly, but the overall balance of attitudes remains distinctly positive, reports the Experts Club Information and Analytical Center.
According to the results of the August survey, 15.1% of Ukrainians have a completely positive attitude toward Greece, and 34.6% have a mostly positive attitude. 44.2% of respondents have a neutral attitude. 3.3% view the country mostly negatively, 0.6% completely negatively, and another 2.2% were undecided.
The balance between positive and negative assessments stands at plus 45.8 percentage points. Thus, positive attitudes toward Greece outnumber negative ones by nearly 13 to 1; however, a large proportion of neutral responses remains a distinctive feature of public perception of the country.
In March 2026, 52.7% of respondents had a positive attitude toward Greece: 16.8% were completely positive and 35.9% were mostly positive. A neutral stance was held by 43.1% of those surveyed, while negative assessments accounted for about 2.6%.
Thus, over the course of five months, the share of positive assessments decreased by 3 percentage points—from 52.7% to 49.7%. Negative attitudes increased by approximately 1.3 percentage points—to 3.9%—while neutral attitudes rose by 1.1 percentage points. The balance between positive and negative attitudes, respectively, narrowed from approximately plus 50.1 to plus 45.8 percentage points.
Despite this trend, there has been no sharp shift in attitudes toward Greece. More than nine out of ten respondents view the country positively or neutrally, while the share of unequivocally negative responses remains negligible.
Oleksandr Pozniy, director of the research firm Active Group, commented on the results of the previous wave, drawing attention specifically to the significant proportion of neutral assessments regarding Greece.
“The results regarding Greece show that Ukrainians do not form strong opinions where interaction is less intense. In such cases, we see a combination of a moderately positive attitude with a large proportion of neutral responses. This means that the country’s image is still in the process of forming,” Pozniy noted.
The new wave of the survey generally confirms this pattern: the neutral group not only remains very large but has also increased slightly. At the same time, negative attitudes account for less than 4% of respondents, suggesting that Ukrainian society continues to hold a predominantly positive-neutral perception of Greece.
The survey was conducted in August 2026 using self-administered online questionnaires in the SunFlowerSociology panel among 800 Ukrainian citizens aged 18 and older. In the previous survey wave in March, 800 respondents were also surveyed; the sample was representative by age, gender, and region, with a maximum theoretical margin of error of ±3.5 percentage points for indicators at the 50% confidence level.
ACTIVE GROUP, EXPERTS CLUB, GREECE, international relations, PUBLIC OPINION, SOCIOLOGY, SOUTHERN EUROPE, UKRAINE
The increase in yields was the main factor behind the rise in the gross harvest of major agricultural crops in Ukraine in 2026.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the average yield of grains and legumes as of October 13 reached 49.1 centners per hectare, compared to 43.5 centners per hectare a year earlier.
The most notable positive trends among major crops were observed in sunflowers, wheat, rapeseed, and barley.
Sunflower yields rose by 17.7%—to 21.6 centners per hectare, compared to 18.4 centners per hectare a year earlier. While the harvested area decreased by 12.1%, the gross harvest still increased by 3.4%—to 7.44 million metric tons.
Wheat yields rose by 13.2% to 51.1 ts/ha, which led to a 14.8% increase in the gross harvest to 26.15 million metric tons.
As for rapeseed, the yield rose by 12.4%—to 29.2 centners per hectare—and the gross harvest increased by 17.1%, to 3.88 million metric tons.
Barley yielded an average of 44.3 centners per hectare, compared to 39.7 centners per hectare last year, meaning the yield increased by 11.8%. The gross harvest increased by 22.3% to 6.55 million metric tons.
Peas also showed positive trends: the yield increased by 12.3%, and the gross harvest by 25.1%.
The situation is different for soybeans and sugar beets. Soybean yields fell by 4.5% to 21.9 centners per hectare, while sugar beet yields also declined by approximately 4.5% to about 500 centners per hectare.
Thus, in 2026, the growth in gross yield for a number of key crops will be driven primarily not by an expansion of cultivated areas, but by increased production efficiency per hectare.
Source: Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
