Annexed Kherson is pro-Ukrainian in vast majority

Edit: this article was written before Kherson was liberated by Ukrainian Armed Forces. Footage from Kherson is the best proof that statistics from this article are true.

Kherson is one of four recently annexed Ukrainian regions in 2022. Russia claims that the September sham-referendum got 87% votes to join Russia[1]. Could that be true even in theory?

Short summary: majority of Kherson region population are pro-Ukrainian Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians (which should be no surprise for Ukraine). Real referendum for joining Russia would surely fail. Numbers follow.

When annexation took place in September 2022 most of the Kherson region was occupied by Russian forces. Situation is changing in October 2022 due to Ukrainian counteroffensive.

According to 2001 census data for Kherson region[2] is:

• 82% of population are ethnical Ukrainians
• 73% of population said Ukrainian was their mother-tongue

To be absolutely fair, lots of Ukrainians can use both languages in their daily life, so many of those 73% could also use Russian, as well as Ukrainian, depending on the situation.

What about pro-Russian sentiments? KIIS (Institute of Sociology) did their research.

In 2014, after Russian invasion numbers were the following [3]:

• 0% of Kherson region population said that Ukraine and Russia should unite into one state
• 4% said that Kherson region should split from Ukraine and join Russia

In 2022 (before the full scale invasion) 6% of Kherson region population would like to see Ukraine and Russia united into one state.

After the full-scale invasion there was yet another research [4], however there is no data particularly about Kherson, but the dynamics is clear. This research shows that 0% of Southern Ukraine population would like to see Ukraine and Russia united into one state, as opposed to 8% of support for unification before the invasion.

Attitude towards Russia became strongly negative in Ukraine after Feb 24 2022. Real numbers in any referendum about joining Russia would not be higher than 15% even without Russian bombings. Now they are much lower and are approaching 0%.

Research [5] from another Sociological Agency Rating in 2019 shows that there was a 75% of people in the South would vote for Ukrainian independence from USSR if given that choice. (By the way numbers increased dramatically [6] in 2022 for whole Ukraine, unfortunately no specific data for Southern Ukraine this time.)

Numbers above prove Kherson region is in majority ethnical Ukrainian, Ukrainian speaking and pro-Ukrainian territory. It being pro-Russian are Russian lies

Update: If you’re interested about data in other three annexed regions, numbers follow:

• Zaporizhzhia: 70.8% ethnical Ukrainians, Ukrainian language as a mother-tongue: 50.2%, wanted to join Russia in 2014/2021: 6%/7%
• Donetsk: 56.9% ethnical Ukrainians, Ukrainian language as a mother-tongue: 24.1% (Russian: 74.9%), wanted to join Russia in 2014/2021: 28%/10%
• Luhansk: 58% ethnical Ukrainians, Ukrainian language as a mother-tongue: 30.0% (Russian: 68.8%), wanted to join Russia in 2014/2021: 30%/12%

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Sources follow

[1] https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/15888051

[2] http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/regions/reg_khers/

[3] https://www.kiis.com.ua/?lang=eng&cat=reports&id=1138&page=2

[4] https://www.kiis.com.ua/?lang=eng&cat=reports&id=1127&page=4

[5] https://ratinggroup.ua/en/research/ukraine/dinamika_patrioticheskih_nastroeniy_ukraincev_avgust_2019.html

[6] https://ratinggroup.ua/en/research/ukraine/s_mnadcyate_zagalnonac_onalne_opituvannya_dentichn_st_patr_otizm_c_nnost_17-18_serpnya_2022.html

Ukrainian map with occupied regions (public domain): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_annexation_of_Donetsk,_Kherson,_Luhansk_and_Zaporizhzhia_oblasts#/media/File:Ukraine_disputed_regions.svg

Check the photo of the pro-Ukrainian meeting in Kherson after being occupied by Russia in the Ukrainian Pravda article: https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/03/13/7330971/