People have young children to look after, cancer and other illnesses to manage, aging parents to care for. It’s easy to imagine that they feel they can’t—or don’t want to—get arrested for opposing a distant war because of these kinds of responsibilities, even if it is being waged in their name. This war is based in no small part on dehumanizing Ukrainians as a group. You can be horrified by what Russia has done and is doing—as of course I am—and, at the same time, be concerned about dehumanizing a whole group of people in response. But, at the same time, I can understand why this might seem like sophistry to Ukrainians who have lost their homes, their friends, and seen their fellow Ukrainians tortured and murdered.
- Polls suggest the majority of Russians, if not supporting the war, certainly do not oppose it.
- “Russians tend to say Ukrainians and Russians are one people because (1) they generally have had little contact with Ukraine and (2) this is what their president says and very similar to the Soviet line,” Snyder said.
- The evidence suggests that even in the best-case scenario, the mobilization effect will be nonexistent.
"You will not silence us," Meduza said in a defiant statement. "We need independent media to stop the war and then try and improve life in Russia at least to a degree." There is more variety of opinion in the press, but it still largely sticks to the Kremlin line. A stalwart of independent reporting for almost 29 years, the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, suspended operations on 28 March after receiving warnings from Russia's media watchdog Roskomnadzor. Koneva said public opinion in Russia increasingly seems resigned to a longer-term war.
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Overall, the war’s outcome will depend on the mood of the group who support it and on the group of conformists who go along with it. That is because its most avid proponents, and its most intractable opponents, will not change their minds. If those who see it as a “just” war start to suspect that it is slipping into an existential conflict with the West, or if conformists change their risk calculations because they face being drafted, the balance of opinion may shift decisively. Volkov adds that public opinion matters, even though the Russian government isn't taking the public's pulse in order to plan its next moves. He says officials are instead monitoring the situation to make sure that it's "under control." In Belgorod, close to the Ukrainian border and just 80km (50 miles) from the now war-torn city of Kharkiv, local people are now used to convoys of military trucks roaring towards the front line.
- “For example, a person says, 'I support,' but then researchers will follow up with questions to determine if they are ready to go to war, ready to donate to the Russian army or expect benefits from a possible victory," Koneva explained.
- But in an interview with Channel 4 News, Mr Zelensky said he was open to changing the law to allow for a wartime election.
- Now, those who want to publish and are affiliated with Russia have been asked to withhold applications, though they have not yet been officially withdrawn.
Most ordinary Russians are in the middle, trying to make sense of a situation they didn't choose, don't understand and feel powerless to change. Russian military enlistment offices have been attacked 220 times since the war in Ukraine began, Moscow’s interior ministry has said. Ukraine’s president signed a decree instructing the government to develop a plan for preserving the national identity of the “historically inhabited lands” of Krasnodar Krai, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov.
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People I met in the park wondered whether the statue had been the intended target, or whether the missile had been meant to hit a nearby government installation, and been downed by an air-defense missile? The hits on two symbols of Ukrainian sovereignty struck many as not coincidental. Russians are more likely than Ukrainians to support changing the borders of the two countries so that regions in Ukraine where people may “feel” more Russian could formally become part of Russia.
- The UK's defence secretary has also warned that we need to be prepared for a war.
- Western leaders hope the unprecedented measures will bring about a change in thinking in the Kremlin.
- Poland’s prime minister said his country would do “everything” to help Kyiv win the war.
Usually, people will spread the word about protests secretly. But everyone who wants to participate can easily find out about it. For https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-will-happen-if-russia-wins-ukraine.html , in certain online communities, they’ll just post a single number (indicating a date) and everyone understands everything. But I don’t feel safe expressing my opinion, especially when I talk about it online or on the phone.
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To put it simply, before launching an offensive, it’s worth thinking about who will fight in that offensive and how willingly, and to what extent an active conflict will prompt people to rally around Putin. The evidence suggests that even in the best-case scenario, the mobilization effect will be nonexistent. Volkov says these polls are conducted face-to-face, and people are assured of anonymity. Still, he notes, the survey results reveal at least as much about what people are willing to say in public than about how they truly feel. Volkov found that some 80% of respondents do support the military, but that group is by no means a monolith. He says about 50% have "definite support" without any qualms, but the other 30% have support with reservations.
“The security of the Polish nation and the Polish state is also at stake in this fight,” he said. Donald Tusk has called the war between Ukraine and Russia a battle between “good and evil”. Volodymyr Zelensky has been condemned for claiming six Russian regions were “historically inhabited by Ukrainians”. Ukraine is shifting its military strategy to “active defence” after its counter-offensive last year failed to deliver significant gains. It also geolocated combat clashes to the north-west of Bakhmut, west of Donetsk city and south of Robotyne. One Ukrainian observer said Russian soldiers had advanced along the two main streets into Avdiivka from the west and south.