Ukrainians were most hopeful, polls indicated, last winter, in the run-up to the counteroffensive in the south. Trust in government fell from 74 percent in May to 39 percent in October, the period when the Ukrainian offensive began and then petered out, the institute found. Despite months of bloody trench fighting and tens of thousands of casualties, little land has changed hands since. “The boys who are at the front are physically and psychologically tired,” Mr. Tkachyk said. This war will last a long time.”

---

Persons: Valery Zaluzhny, Andriy Tkachyk, Mr, Tkachyk, “, ” Organizations: Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Ukrainian Locations: Trust, Kherson city, Tukhlia, Ukraine