In the wake of Ukraine's recent invasion into Russia's Kursk Oblast, Americans have become more likely to say Ukraine is currently winning its war with Russia. According to the August 17 - 20 Economist / YouGov Poll, 22% of U.S. adult citizens say Ukraine is winning, while 16% say Russia is. Another 34% say neither side is winning and 28% aren't sure.
While the 22% who say Ukraine is winning is a small share of Americans, it's the first time since 2023 in Economist / YouGov polls that Americans have been more likely to see Ukraine as winning than to see Russia as winning.
Americans are equally likely to say that Russia will eventually win the war (23%) and that Ukraine will (23%).
This uncertainty on the outcome comes despite strong American sympathy for the Ukrainians. 63% say they sympathize more with Ukraine and just 3% with Russia. 23% sympathize with neither side, and 11% aren't sure.
Majorities of Americans think Joe Biden (67%) and Kamala Harris (59%) sympathize more with Ukraine. There's less certainty among the American public about Donald Trump's views. 21% say he sympathizes more with Ukraine, while 37% say he sympathizes more with Russia.
Most Democrats (67%) say Trump sympathizes with Russia, while Republicans are more split: 38% say Trump sympathizes more with Ukraine, 10% say he sympathizes with Russia, and 27% say he sympathizes about equally with both sides.
Overall, 25% of Americans say the U.S. should increase military aid to Ukraine, 27% say current levels of military aid should be maintained, and 28% say the U.S. should decrease aid.
Democrats are more likely to favor increasing aid, and Republicans to favor decreasing it.
Support for decreasing aid to Ukraine has fallen slightly since the July 21 - 23 Economist / YouGov Poll, when 34% wanted to decrease aid. Support for increasing aid is up since July, but down from 30% in the March 16 - 19 poll.
See the toplines and crosstabs from the Economist/YouGov poll conducted on August 17 - 20, 2024 among 1,565 U.S. adult citizens.
Methodology: Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel using sample matching. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3%.
Image: Getty
What do you think about the election, American politics in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
