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Photo by Media Centre Ukraine – Odesa: Oleksandr Ostapenko – combatant, member of the IC "Maidan Monitoring", Serhii Shevtsov – Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Department of Philosophy at the I.I. Mechnikov National University of Odesa, Leonid Shtekel – journalist, Odesa’s Daily editor-in-chief, Hanna Yatvetska – sociologist, Ian Shapiro – founder of the U-nation project, Kyrylo Solar – founder of the creative design agency and IT company Solar Digital
August 29, 2023, 17:47

From 44% to 66% of Ukrainians want to stay abroad – civic activist and war veteran

This was stated by Oleksandr Ostapenko, a combatant and activist of the NGO Information Centre “Maidan Monitoring”, during a panel discussion “What will Ukraine look like after fifteen years of war” at the Media Centre Ukraine – Odesa.

“War leads to degradation of all spheres of life. If it lasts for 10-15 years, it will be a disaster for Ukraine in many ways. We are critically dependent on our partners and it is obvious that Ukraine will face a sharp economic decline. In the first year of the war alone, economic indicators fell by 30%. For many countries, these are catastrophic figures.”

Ostapenko also highlighted the demographic problem: “It is not a given that people will return after the war is over. Today, 44% to 66% of Ukrainians want to stay abroad. And we are not mentioning the fact that after the war is over, our guys may return from the front and go to their families in other countries and stay there. It is hard to imagine what the consequences will be. That is why it is important for us now not to die heroically and win at the cost of many lives, but to survive as a nation and Ukraine as a state.”

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news