New Gallup poll shows Ukrainians' life satisfaction hitting new lows:
A survey by Gallup shows that Ukrainians gave their lives in 2015 the worst ratings that the opinion pollster has yet measured in the country.
The survey published on January 4 indicates that on a ladder scale with steps numbered from 0 to 10, with 10 being the best possible life, Ukrainians on average rated their current lives at a 4.0.
Current life ratings have dropped among residents form all age groups, education levels, and gender, Gallup said.
The only exception were the wealthiest Ukrainians, whose ratings of their future lives have improved slightly over the past year.
Gallup said the poor outlook is likely related to Ukrainians' growing dissatisfaction with their living standards in the conflict-torn country.
Over the last year, the percentage of Ukrainians who report being satisfied with their living standards has dropped from 27 percent to 17 percent, Gallup said.
The percentage of Ukrainians who view the country's economic situation as "poor" jumped from 62 percent in 2014 to 79 percent in 2015.
Ukraine's Crimea region, which was annexed by Russia, has not been included in the Ukraine survey since 2014.
Also excluded were Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where Ukrainian forces have been engaged in military conflict with Russian-backed separatists since April 2014.
Gallup said the results of its survey are based on interviews with 1,000 adults, conducted in July and August 2015.