On October 6, the results of recently conducted sociological research "Study public opinion poll in Sumy region on the actual security challenges situation." were discussed on the meeting of the workshop “ Political discussion club” at the Research Centre for Regional Security of Sumy State University.  This topic was chosen for the discussion, because the security issues are inevitably actual today. Many factors and risks affect the city and the region residents, so that’s why they feel unsafe. Students, PhD and professors of the university took part in the discussion.

They all expressed their opinions concerning the results of the research, which involved 2000 respondents. Earlier, on Semtember 28, there was an expert discussion concerning the results at Sumy Press Club. The director of project Nikolay Nazarov presented the results of research and discussed with the local experts different threats for the Sumy residents.

During the discussion at “Political Discussion Club” the participants paid particular attention to the questions, which the respondents had to answer. They also expressed their thoughts related to these questions. Thus, there were made such conclusions:

• The older generation feels much unsafe in comparison to youth, because young people have more opportunities for self-development and realization of their potential. This makes youth more confident. Middle-aged people feel various threats more, because they have to take care of their families.
• People from rural places feel more unsafe, because unlike city residents, they do not have much opportunities to self-realisation. They also get less varied information, mostly from TV or radio and they rarely check if it trustworthy.
• The military invasion, being one of the threat aspects, much concerns the Sumy residents, because they live near the border.According to the results of research 43,76 % are primarily afraid of this.
• Psychological aspect is also very significant. If the stress is healthy, it will lead to progress, but if not, it makes people depressed and panic. The majority of people worry about the war and its contradictive end.
• Information attack and propaganda from the Russian Federation affects the minds of people. The absence or miscomprehension of the information (e.g. the role of NATO in military issues solution in Ukraine) affects the population and its thoughts. This makes people nervous and unsafe.
• Environmental crisis issues concern people least, which not a good indicator. The recovery of nature takes dozens and hundreds years. Its decay today will result in environmental crisis tomorrow. In this regard, Ukraine is far from European priorities.

To conclude, it should be noted, that the feeling of unsafety among Sumy residents and the whole Ukraine are caused not only by outer factors, but first and foremost by inner spirit. In order to feel more safe one should pursue self-development, check information from any source, no matter if it media, social networks and be interested not only in social moods, but also in personal ones.

Tetyana Ivanytska,

the Centre journalist

Olena Stovpak,

translator