Most Ukrainians believe that confiscation of property in combination with a real prison term is a fair punishment for corrupt officials. This is evidenced by the results of a sociological study conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in February-March 2025.
According to the survey, in the case of confiscation of property and the appointment of 10 years of real imprisonment, 74% to 80% of those polled consider such a sentence as fair - no matter how long the trial lasted. When combining confiscation with a shorter term of 3 years of true imprisonment, 58-62% of respondents also consider it fair.
Instead, if it is only a prison period without confiscation, even in the case of 10 years behind bars, the level of trust is much lower - only 46% consider the sentence fair, while 49% call it unfair.
Even less acceptable in the eyes of society are conditional terms: even if the sentence provides confiscation of property but does not include real imprisonment, most Ukrainians (57%) do not consider such punishment as fair. If there is neither confiscation nor a prison period, support of the sentence in general falls to a level of no more than 25%.
The survey was conducted from February 14 to March 4, 2025 by telephone interviews. In total, 2029 adults of Ukraine living in the government -controlled territories were interviewed. The statistical error does not exceed 2.9% for indicators close to 50%.
The results indicate a clear public request for a rigid and real punishment of corrupt officials - with confiscation of assets acquired and imprisonment. In the face of war and economic instability, Ukrainians tolerate any condescending attitude towards criminals in power.
