More than half of Ukrainians make Telegram channels their first point of information, followed by YouTube videos and broadcasts of bloggers.
As reported by a nationwide poll carried out every year by the Rating polling organisation and by the European Union Advisory Mission on 31 July-5 August, 51% of Ukrainians still mainly use Telegram as their source of information. YouTube is second in position (25%), and bloggers’ streams and videos, and 22% mention their social networks, i.e., their friends, relatives, or colleagues.
Facebook and Instagram are seen as the primary sources of disinformation (58%), followed by messaging apps (45%).
Independent media and Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) continue to be the most trusted institutions in refuting fake news.
Telegram’s popularity has gone up from 47% in 2024 to 51% in 2025.
Other sources that were often named by respondents include YouTube (25%), personal communication (22%), and the national joint 24/7 news broadcast (21%). Less than 20% mentioned any other sources.
Respondents find that disinformation and fake news are most common on social media such as Facebook and Instagram (58%), messenger channels (45%), TV (27%), and online media (21%). 15% of the respondents viewed interpersonal communication as a means of transmitting fakes, 5% mentioned radio, and 5% mentioned print media.
In comparison to 2024, anxiety regarding social networks as platforms of disinformation increased from 53% to 58%, and regarding messaging platforms from 35% to 45%. Anxiety regarding television fell from 32% to 27%.
84% of participants were concerned about the spread and impact of disinformation and fake news on the population of Ukraine; 16% were not concerned.
The most reliable sources in combating disinformation or fabricated news were independent reporters (44%) and the CCD (42%). The Office of the President (26%), international institutions (21%), civil society groups (14%), Centre for Strategic Communications (11%), law enforcers (9%), and influencers/opinion leaders (9%) were other reliable institutions.
Among the networks and applications on which respondents subscribe to public channels for news and updates, 62% cited Telegram, 32% YouTube, and 22% Facebook. Other networks were less in vogue: Viber (18%), Instagram (16%), and TikTok (14%). Less than 10% used other apps or platforms for this.
