Most Ukrainians not ready to refuse NATO accession in exchange for immediate peace

Seventy-six percent of Ukrainians consider it unacceptable for the country to withhold its NATO membership bid "as a price for peace," according to recent polls conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

The share of those who insist on NATO accession as opposed to receiving security guarantees has increased from 39% to 58% since May 2022, the KIIS reported on July 10.

Survey results show that a total of 89% of Ukrainians want their country to become a member of NATO, with the figure ranging from 79% in Ukraine's east to 93% in western regions.

"It is important to emphasize once again that it was not the Ukrainians' desire to join NATO that 'provoked' Russia, but rather Russian aggression became the catalyst for public support for Euro-Atlantic integration," said Anton Hrushetskyi, the KIIS's executive director.

"At the same time, the longer the war lasts, the more Ukrainians insist on full membership in NATO, and the security guarantees from other states look less convincing."

In its press release, the KIIS used the results of two surveys it had conducted on May 10-21 and May 26-June 5. The institute interviewed 3538 Ukrainian adults residing in Kyiv-controlled territories.

According to sociologists, on the eve of the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, only 15-20% of Ukrainians backed the idea of joining NATO. In 2021, this number amounted to 48%.

4 killed, 20 injured in Russian attacks over past day

Russian attacks in three Ukrainian oblasts killed four civilians and wounded 20 more over the past 24 hours, according to the regional authorities.

In total, Russia targeted nine Ukrainian regions — Sumy, Kherson, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia.

Russian forces hit a residential area in the frontline town of Orikihiv, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, during the distribution of humanitarian aid, the regional administration wrote on July 10. Four people were killed, and 13 more people were injured, according to the latest update by the Prosecutor General’s Office.

In total, Russia launched 36 attacks on ten settlements in the region, wounding another person in Novodanylivka, the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration added.

Russian troops struck Kherson Oblast 51 times on July 9, firing 328 projectiles from various weapons, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. The attacks reportedly injured five people in the region, hitting residential infrastructure and a shopping mall in Beryslav.

In the past day, Russian attacks against eastern Donetsk Oblast injured a resident of Yampil, reported Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

An enterprise, 12 houses, and a boiler house were damaged in Russian attacks across the region, Kyrylenko said on Telegram.

Russia also hit private residences and apartment buildings in Kharkiv Oblast as well as an infrastructure facility in the southern city of Mykolaiv, according to the regional governors. No casualties were reported in these oblasts.

Melitopol mayor says Russians are mining critical infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia

Russian forces have begun to mine critical infrastructure in occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov reported via Telegram on July 9.

"The enemy endangers the residents of the occupied territories," Fedorov said.

The town of Melitopol was captured by Russians shortly after the start of the war and has since been occupied by Russian forces.

In his post, Fedorov said that Russians mined a water main that supplies the town with drinking water. He said electrical grids were also mined, leaving the town's power and water supplies vulnerable.

Fedorov also said Russian troops continue to mine the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, placing explosives in technical and machine rooms.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was seized by Russian forces in March 2022 and subjected to ongoing occupation. Although the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not found evidence of explosives at the site, the Russian occupiers have not allowed agency inspectors full access to all facilities.