In August 2026, Ukrainians’ attitudes toward Uzbekistan remain predominantly neutral: 55.6% of respondents hold this view. Taking these categories together, 25.7% of those surveyed view the country positively, while 14.5% view it negatively, according to the Experts Club Information and Analytical Center. In the summary report, the positive figure is listed as 25.6%, which is due to the rounding of the raw data.
6.5% of Ukrainians have a completely positive attitude toward Uzbekistan, while 19.2% have a mostly positive attitude. 55.6% of respondents chose a neutral response. 13.1% view the country mostly negatively, 1.4% completely negatively, and another 4.3% were undecided.
When the categories are combined, the balance between positive and negative attitudes is +11.2 percentage points. Positive assessments thus outnumber negative ones by approximately 1.8 times. At the same time, more than half of those surveyed do not express a strong positive or negative stance toward the country.
In the overall regional picture, Uzbekistan has a less pronounced positive image than Georgia and Azerbaijan. In August, positive assessments stood at 57.3% for Georgia and 48.7% for Azerbaijan, while a high proportion of neutral responses remains the key feature of perceptions toward Uzbekistan.
At the same time, compared to the April 2025 survey, attitudes have become more defined. At that time, 63.4% of Ukrainians held a neutral stance toward Uzbekistan, 21.7% had a positive view, 9.3% had a negative view, and 5.6% were undecided. Thus, the positive segment grew by approximately 4 percentage points, the negative segment by 5.2 percentage points, and the share of neutral responses decreased by 7.8 percentage points.
Maksym Urakin, founder of the Experts Club Information and Analytical Center and a candidate of economic sciences, believes that a key factor in how Uzbekistan is perceived remains Ukrainians’ lack of awareness about the country’s current role in Central Asia.
“For a significant portion of Ukrainian society, Uzbekistan remains a rather distant country. People are exposed to far less information about its economy, business, politics, or humanitarian ties than they are about EU countries, the Caucasus, or Ukraine’s immediate neighbors. That is precisely why the neutral group still accounts for more than half of the respondents,” Urakin noted.
At the same time, he said, the decline in the share of neutral responses—from 63.4% in April 2025 to 55.6% in August 2026—is a more significant signal than the individual increase in positive or negative assessments.
“We are seeing the gradual formation of a more defined image of Uzbekistan. Some respondents are shifting from a neutral stance to a specific assessment of the country. At the same time, positive attitudes still significantly outweigh negative ones. This means that there is a sufficiently favorable foundation for the development of economic, educational, cultural, and humanitarian ties, but the image of Uzbekistan in Ukraine still requires a greater informational presence,” Urakin added.
The current results partially confirm this assessment: the neutral group remains the largest, but it has shrunk significantly compared to 2025. The simultaneous increase in both positive and negative responses indicates, above all, the gradual formation of a more defined attitude toward Uzbekistan.
The survey was conducted in August 2026 using an online self-administered questionnaire via 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.
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In January–September 2026, Ukraine increased its imports of insulated wires and cables by 22.7%—to $540.7 million, with China significantly outpacing traditional European suppliers in this segment for the first time.
According to the State Customs Service, imports of Chinese cable products reached $157 million, compared to $92.6 million during the same period last year.
Thus, in just one year, shipments from China grew by approximately 69.5%, and its share of Ukraine’s wire and cable imports approached 29%.
Hungary remains the second-largest supplier. Over the nine-month period, Ukraine imported $124 million worth of wires and cables from Hungary, compared to $114 million a year earlier, representing an increase of approximately 8.8%.
Poland ranked third with shipments totaling $74 million, compared to $74.7 million in January–September 2025.
Thus, China, Hungary, and Poland together accounted for about $355 million, or nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian imports of cable products.
The main change in the market structure was the strengthening of China’s position. Just a year ago, Hungary was the largest supplier, whereas now the value of Chinese imports exceeds that of Hungary’s by approximately $33 million.
The rapid growth in imports may be linked to increased demand for electrical products, the restoration of energy infrastructure, telecommunications projects, construction, industrial equipment, and automotive components.
At the same time, imports are growing significantly faster than exports. Over the first nine months, Ukrainian exports of wires and cables remained roughly at last year’s level—$1.065 billion—while imports rose by nearly a quarter.
By the end of 2025, Ukraine had imported $590.7 million worth of wires and cables, which was 24.3% higher than in 2024. In just the first nine months of 2026, the volume of imports had already approached the total for the entire previous year.
According to Experts Club, Lithuania continues to enjoy one of the highest levels of positive perception among Ukrainians: in August 2026, 69.9% of respondents viewed the country positively, while only 3.9% viewed it negatively. At the same time, compared to the previous wave of the survey, the share of positive assessments has decreased, while the share of neutral assessments has increased, reports the Experts Club Information and Analytical Center.
According to the results of the August survey, 37.8% of Ukrainians view Lithuania entirely positively, and 32.1% view it mostly positively. A neutral stance is held by 24.5% of respondents. 3.1% view the country mostly negatively, 0.8% view it entirely negatively, and another 1.8% were undecided.
Based on the rounded figures in the table, the balance between positive and negative assessments is approximately plus 66 percentage points. This means that positive assessments of Lithuania outnumber negative ones by nearly 18 times. The country remains among those with the most favorable public perception among Ukrainians.
Compared to March 2026, the positive attitude has weakened somewhat. At that time, 44.1% of respondents rated Lithuania entirely positively, and another 31% rated it mostly positively, meaning the combined positive rating stood at 75.1%. Twenty-one percent of respondents had a neutral attitude toward the country, while about 3.3% had a negative one.
Thus, over the course of five months, the share of positive assessments decreased by 5.2 percentage points—from 75.1% to 69.9%. The share of neutral responses increased by 3.5 percentage points—from 21% to 24.5%—while the negative segment grew by only about 0.6 percentage points. Consequently, the decline in the positive rating was primarily due to some respondents shifting to a neutral position, rather than a sharp rise in negative attitudes.
The change in the intensity of positive assessments is also significant. The share of respondents with a completely positive attitude fell from 44.1% in March to 37.8% in August, while the share of mostly positive responses actually rose slightly—from 31% to 32.1%. This indicates a certain softening of assessments while maintaining an overall favorable image of Lithuania.
Oleksandr Pozniy, director of the research company Active Group, previously linked the high ratings of European countries to how Ukrainians perceive their support.
“This study confirms the general trend in public sentiment in Ukraine, which has intensified since the start of the full-scale war. Ukrainians clearly associate the support received primarily from European Union countries and the United Kingdom with a positive attitude toward them,” Pozniy noted.
At the same time, commenting on the structure of the responses in the survey, he emphasized: “For Ukrainians, the world is not ‘black and white,’ and the large proportion of neutral assessments regarding a number of countries indicates caution and a desire for balanced judgment rather than indifference.”
The latest round of the survey shows that, in the case of Lithuania, this trend is reflected in an increase in the neutral segment, while negative assessments remain at a very low level. Despite a decline compared to March, approximately seven out of ten Ukrainians continue to view the country positively.
The survey was conducted in August 2026 using self-administered online questionnaires in the SunFlowerSociology panel among 800 Ukrainian citizens aged 18 and older. The previous survey in March also included 800 respondents; the sample was representative by age, gender, and region, and the maximum theoretical margin of error for indicators at the 50% confidence level was ±3.5 percentage points.
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From January through September 2026, Ukraine exported insulated wires and cables, including fiber-optic products, worth $1.065 billion, maintaining shipment volumes at virtually the same level as the same period last year.
According to data from the State Customs Service, Germany remains the largest market for Ukrainian cable products. Over the nine-month period, shipments to this country totaled $348.7 million, down 2.8% compared to January–September 2025.
Germany’s share of Ukraine’s total exports of wires and cables decreased by approximately 1 percentage point—to 32.7%—but the country continues to account for nearly one-third of the industry’s total export revenue.
Poland ranks second, with Ukraine supplying $177.1 million worth of products, compared to $168.1 million a year earlier. Thus, exports to Poland increased by approximately 5.4%.
Hungary retained its third position with purchases totaling about $172 million, virtually unchanged from last year’s figure of $172.3 million.
The three largest European markets—Germany, Poland, and Hungary—accounted for a total of nearly $698 million in January–September, or about 65.5% of Ukraine’s total exports of wires and cables.
In September, exports of these products totaled $122.7 million. Compared to September of last year, this figure decreased by 6.6%, but compared to August 2026, it increased by 26%.
The cable industry remains one of the most prominent export-oriented segments of Ukraine’s machine-building and component manufacturing sectors. A significant portion of the products is supplied to companies in the European automotive, electrical engineering, and industrial sectors.
For the full year 2025, Ukraine increased its exports of insulated wires and cables by 10.6%—to $1.41 billion. If shipment rates in the fourth quarter remain close to last year’s levels, the annual export volume in 2026 may also remain at around $1.4 billion.
Another 30 Ukrainian children have arrived in Azerbaijan for rest, health improvement, and psychological rehabilitation, according to the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The new group includes children from the Dnipropetrovsk region and the city of Boyarka in the Kyiv region.
The program will take place in Gabala, one of Azerbaijan’s largest tourist and resort centers. The children will participate in recreational activities, health-improvement programs, and receive psychological support.
Since the start of the full-scale war, 722 Ukrainian children have already had the opportunity to rest and undergo rehabilitation in Azerbaijan.
Yuriy Gusev, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan, thanked the country’s leadership and the Azerbaijani people for their support of Ukrainian children.
“We are sincerely grateful to the leadership of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people for their solidarity, care, hospitality, and support for Ukrainian children. This is yet another demonstration of the genuine friendship between our peoples and the Ukrainian-Azerbaijani strategic partnership,” the ambassador noted.
Recreation and rehabilitation programs for Ukrainian children in Azerbaijan have been implemented since the start of the full-scale war and have become one of the areas of humanitarian cooperation between the two countries.
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According to Experts Club, France continues to enjoy one of the highest levels of positive perception among Ukrainians: in August 2026, 72.8% of respondents viewed the country positively, while only 3.7% viewed it negatively. Compared to March, the share of positive assessments has decreased slightly, but at the same time, the share of negative responses has also decreased, reports the Experts Club Information and Analytical Center.
According to the results of the August survey, 28% of Ukrainians view France entirely positively, and 44.8% view it mostly positively. 22.5% of respondents hold a neutral position. 3.5% view the country mostly negatively, only 0.2% view it entirely negatively, and another 1% were undecided.
The balance of positive and negative assessments stands at plus 69.1 percentage points. Thus, positive attitudes toward France outnumber negative ones by nearly 20 to 1. Based on this balance, the country remains among the leaders in the overall ranking of Ukraine’s trading partners.
Compared to the previous survey wave, the changes are relatively minor. In March 2026, 30.3% of respondents had a completely positive attitude toward France, and 44.3% had a mostly positive attitude—meaning the overall positive rating stood at 74.6%. At that time, 20.3% held a neutral position, while 4.7% of respondents expressed a negative attitude.
Thus, over the course of five months, the share of positive assessments decreased by 1.8 percentage points—from 74.6% to 72.8%—but the share of negative assessments also fell—from 4.7% to 3.7%. At the same time, the share of neutral responses increased by 2.2 percentage points—to 22.5%. The balance between positive and negative attitudes changed only slightly—from plus 69.9 to plus 69.1 percentage points.
The internal structure of positive responses is also revealing. The share of those who view France entirely positively decreased from 30.3% to 28%, while the share of mostly positive responses remained virtually unchanged—44.3% in March and 44.8% in August. This indicates that a stable, positive core of public opinion regarding France remains intact.
Oleksandr Pozniy, director of the research firm Active Group, previously attributed France’s high ratings to its established image among the Ukrainian public.
“For many Ukrainians, France is a symbol of support in difficult times, as well as a cultural and political reference point in Europe. These figures demonstrate a high level of trust and respect, which is largely explained by Paris’s active role in European policy toward Ukraine,” Pozniy noted.
According to him, when analyzing these results, it is important to consider more than just current emotional assessments: attitudes toward other countries are shaped by experiences of interaction, the informational context, and Ukrainians’ expectations regarding the future role of a partner country.
The latest wave of the survey shows that attitudes toward France remain consistently positive: a slight decrease in the overall share of favorable assessments is accompanied by a reduction in the negative segment and an increase in the share of neutral responses. In other words, there has been no noticeable shift from a positive to a negative perception.
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, EUROPEAN UNION, EXPERTS CLUB, FRANCE, international relations, PUBLIC OPINION, SOCIOLOGY, UKRAINE
