A majority of Ukrainians would support sending their own troops to defend six other European countries — Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Finland, and Poland — if Russia attacked them, according to a Rating Group survey published on 25 May. Support ranged from 58 percent for Poland to 63 percent for Lithuania.
The finding comes as Ukraine itself remains under the war and as European capitals continue to debate the scale of their own commitment to Ukraine's defense and EU membership. Nearly three-quarters of Ukrainians — 73% — already see their armed forces as defending Europe as a whole, not just Ukraine, a figure unchanged since Rating Group asked the same question in 2022.
Majority would back defending six European countries
Asked whether they would support Ukrainian troops helping defend specific countries against a Russian attack, respondents backed every country on the list by majorities of at least 58%:
- Lithuania: 63% support, 33% oppose
- Latvia: 62% support, 33% oppose
- Estonia: 61% support, 33% oppose
- Moldova: 60% support, 35% oppose
- Finland: 59% support, 33% oppose
- Poland: 58% support, 37% oppose
Ukrainians see their army as Europe's defender
The 73% who believe the Armed Forces defend both Ukraine and other European peoples rises to 84% among Ukrainians who would vote for EU accession in a referendum; only 15% of accession supporters think the army defends Ukraine alone. Among opponents of EU accession, the share who see the army as defending Europe drops to 57%. The same survey found that 40% of Ukrainians now rank their country as a "leader" among European states — up from 34% in March 2022 and just 8% in January 2022, before the full-scale war.
The stronger the EU connection, the higher the support
Willingness to defend other countries tracks closely with how strongly respondents identify with the EU. Take Estonia: 73% of those who would vote for EU accession would support Ukrainian military help, against just 37% of accession opponents — among whom 61% would oppose it.
Among Ukrainians with a strong emotional connection to the EU, 85% would back armed help for Estonia; among those who weakly associate with the EU, only 35% would, with 58% against. Rating Group surveyed 1,000 respondents aged 18 and over by telephone on 15-17 April 2026, with a margppin of error of up to 3.1 percent.
