Recently there was an expert discussion on "Actual security threats for the residents of Sumy region." It was organized by the Research Centre for Regional Security of Sumy State University at Sumy Press Club on September 28.

The residents of Sumy region live in the border area and now they are in a situation where safety is a relevant and important issue. Therefore, the expert team of the Research Centre for Regional Security conducted a sociological research "Study public opinion poll in Sumy region on the actual security challenges situation." The moderator of the event and the director of the Center Nikolay Nazarov reported about the conducted research: ”The research was carried out in the form of closed questionnaire. The main question “Do you feel safe?” was answered by 2000 respondents. About 63% of middle-aged are really concerned about various economic, military, social and political threats. These are mostly people from the rural area. City residents are, thus likely to feel more safe.

Professor of military training of SSU Pavlo Trofymenko  emphasized, that the sense of unsafety is not as negative as panic. It is the desire of the authorities of the neighboring country and the goal of Russian Federation media. He told, that according to reliable sources, on the Eastern border of Ukraine there are from 30000 up to 50000 Russian soldiers. However there is no need to worry about this, because in order to succeed they need 6 times more, and this is not possible now.

The representative of “Committee for national security” Denys Bityukov pointed out, that during the military conflict, people got used to it, and this can be a real problem. He said: “The research of the Centre is very important, because it gives the residents of Sumy and Sumy region hope for some changes to come. We need to discuss the issues of security and do not forget to focus our attention not only to some problems, but also to some positive things.

Yuriy Petrushenko, an expert of the Centre on economic security and the Head of International Economics Department at the Institute of business technologies of Ukrainian Academy of Banking said, that every second family is afraid of both military invasion and economic crisis. He added, that economic concerns could prevail, because of survival instinct. Today most Ukrainians are pursuing short-term goals. Thus, the survival values are put higher than the development values.

At the end of discussion, the organizer of the event Nikolay Nazarov emphasized how important it is to avoid panic moods and exaggeration of threats. The situation in the state and in Sumy region, in particular, is rather difficult, which results in depressed social moods. Besides, the attempts of neighboring state to provoke destabilization and panic moods are obvious. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to bear in mind the task № 1, which is to convey the objective and trustworthy information. 

Tetyana Ivanytska,

the Centre journalist

Olena Stovpak,

tranlator