In 2026, 22% of Ukrainians will use artificial intelligence to get news. This is the same number as those who turn directly to news sites and online media. At the same time, social networks remain the main channel for information consumption: they are used by 87% of respondents, and Telegram is the most popular platform.
In 2026, 22% of Ukrainians will use artificial intelligence to get news. This is the same number as those who turn directly to news sites and online media. At the same time, social networks remain the main channel for information consumption: they are used by 87% of respondents, and Telegram is the most popular platform.
This is evidenced by the results of a study by the NGO "Internews-Ukraine", presented on November 4.
According to the study, 94% of respondents get their news through social networks and messengers. They most often follow Telegram channels — 82% of respondents named them. This is followed by YouTube channels (55%) and Facebook pages (40%).
Artificial intelligence as a channel for receiving news has already caught up with news sites and online media in popularity — 22% of respondents turn to it. At the same time, 60% of respondents follow online media, in particular through editorial pages on social networks (29%) and YouTube (26%).
Social media is used by 87% of respondents in general. Over the year, the share of those who get news exclusively through them has increased from 37% to 54%.
Other channels are losing audience. Television and online media are used as a source of news by 22% of respondents each — 11 and 9 percentage points less than last year. Radio is listened to by 9% of respondents, compared to 13% in 2025, and print media is read by 3%, compared to 4%.
Overall, 73% of respondents consume news only online and do not watch television. 17% combine television with the Internet — last year, there were 28% of them.
Among individual news sources, the most frequently mentioned network of regional Telegram channels is Trukha, chosen by 19% of news consumers. It is followed by the TV channel 1+1 (9%), Serhiy Sternenko (7%), and Suspilne (6%).
The choice of a news source is most influenced by the speed of publication and the convenience of the format. 39% of respondents named speed as an important criterion, and 36% named convenient format. Another 30% paid attention to the clarity of the presentation and the interest of the topics.
Only 24% of respondents mentioned the reliability of information as a criterion for choosing a source.
Most Ukrainians do not search for news purposefully, but view messages in channels and communities they are subscribed to (60%), or in their social media feed (50%).
The most popular formats remain short text news — read daily by 58% of respondents. Short vertical videos are viewed by 44%, and visual materials — by 42%. At the same time, long texts also have an audience: 44% read them daily, and 71% — at least once a week.
Despite the fact that 85% of respondents are aware of the existence of fake news on the Internet, and 74% of them believe that they can recognize them on their own, a practical test showed a different result. Only 10% of respondents correctly assessed all three news items.
The researchers also checked how familiar Ukrainians are with manipulative narratives. The most frequently encountered statement by respondents was that Ukraine is preparing to lower the mobilization age: 64% of respondents had heard of it, and 56% of those who had encountered it believed it to be true.
Also common were the narratives “Migrants will take jobs away from Ukrainians” (62%) and “Only the authorities want the war to continue” (57%). Almost a third of people who encountered such statements shared them, most often in personal communication.
Telegram remains the most popular social network among respondents, with 78% using it. At the same time, the audience of YouTube (from 43% to 60%), Instagram (from 38% to 44%), and TikTok (from 30% to 39%) has grown over the year.
Instead, the share of Viber users decreased from 65% to 51%, and Facebook — from 53% to 46%.
69% of respondents believe that the state should not restrict access to social media. Last year, 64% shared this position. If restrictions are nevertheless introduced, 55% of respondents will look for other sources of information, 28% will use a VPN, and 26% will follow the same bloggers and channels on other platforms.
The study was conducted by InMind at the request of the NGO "Internews-Ukraine". In July-August 2026, 2,520 respondents were surveyed in cities of Ukraine with a population of over 50,000 people. The declared sampling error with a probability of 0.95 does not exceed 1,95%. Seven focus group discussions were also conducted with residents of Kyiv, Lviv, Odessa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia.
