Why Do So Many Russians Say They Support the War in Ukraine?

· 5 min read
Why Do So Many Russians Say They Support the War in Ukraine?

But by Monday customers of Russia's biggest state-backed bank, Sberbank, told BBC Russian they could not order cash via the app at all - they had to go to its office and sign a form to do so. "When the operation in Donbas started I went to the ATM and withdrew the savings I had in Sberbank in dollars. Now I literally keep them under my pillow. Ilya (name changed), who is in his early 30s, has just finished paying off his mortgage in Moscow.

That, though, is partly because Ukraine had already learnt from previous Russian cyberattacks over the past decade. But if Ukraine’s experience is anything to go by, the threat posed by a common enemy could have a unifying effect. Kyiv’s politicians used to be notoriously fractious – not least because of divisions between the  pro and anti-Russian camps. Once Putin rolled his tanks in, pro-Russian sentiment largely vanished.

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“I know activists from other countries and they support Russian activists, but they don’t understand how we can continue to live and work under the war and the current government. There  are likely many others who hate Russia, but it must be remembered that it’s necessary to separate the Russian government, a mad machine of repression and destruction, and the people of Russia, who for the most part are not guilty. Images on social media have shown long queues forming at ATMs and money exchanges around the country in recent days, with people worried their bank cards may stop working or that limits will be placed on the amount of cash they can withdraw. Now, I’m very encouraged by the fact that the world understands that the Russian people did not choose this war, that instead it was started by a president who lives in some absurd reality of his own. And if I am not imprisoned soon for speaking out against war, I want to try – together with like-minded people – to do everything I can to give our country hope for a peaceful future.

"Trended data can also be very informative about the direction of changes in public opinion even if the magnitude is exaggerated." They are still trying to track Russian public opinion on key topics, including the war in Ukraine, providing a rare window into how the Russian public views the war’s dramatic turns over the last 18 months. Not surprisingly, the major shift in opinion took place after 2014.

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In Russia, state-run newspapers and media outlets blame the West for aggression, mirroring the Kremlin's language. OK, I confess I didn't know who the woman was, but her thoughts didn't exactly seem preoccupied by a possible invasion on her country. By  https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-did-ukraine-look-like-before-the-war.html  will be able to use US-made F16 fighter jets for the first time, which it hopes will improve its ability to counter Russian aircraft and strengthen its own air defences.

  • However, over the following decade various central bank measures helped reassure Russians about the rouble.
  • And that figure came from among those who agreed to participate at all; Miniailo suspected that the polls were not capturing a majority of the real antiwar sentiment, whatever its size.
  • A source familiar with the situation said the drone fell at about 7am local time but had not affected fuel output.
  • Phillips P OBrien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, wrote in an analysis piece that the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House could see the US "neuter" the Western military alliance.
  • That, though, is partly because Ukraine had already learnt from previous Russian cyberattacks over the past decade.

Putin’s authoritarian and great power nationalistic regime fanned ethnic Russian nationalism, turning Russians against both the Ukraine state and Ukrainians as a people. Meanwhile, Putin’s repeated claim that Ukrainians and Russians are “one people” left no room for a Ukrainian identity other than that of “little Russians” in his Eurasian Union. Putin’s total control of the Russian media mobilized anti-Ukrainian hysteria among Russians in the decade leading up to the Kremlin’s 2014 aggression.

In a written response to questions, she said that despite the self-censorship, pollsters "can usually have higher confidence in the reliability of poll findings that show some fluctuation over time." Vladimir Putin’s Russia has sharply constricted the space for free expression in recent years, but some independent pollsters who fled the country have not abandoned their work. Russian opinion of the war, and also how it has affected Kenya. Plus Imran Khan's fall from power, a farewell to South Korea and the Belgian rock band who played behind bars.

  • Going to war is one of Russians’ greatest fears, according to the Levada Center, an independent pollster.
  • I haven’t lived with my parents for many years, but even if I did, I wouldn’t argue with them, because it’s their business what to think.
  • He has worked in both London and Moscow, where he became an expert on Russian propaganda.
  • “The night of (the invasion), I was in a really great mood," recalls Ksenia. "My friend and I were celebrating February 23 (Day of the Defender of the Fatherland or, more commonly, Men’s Day).

"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. For months, Russians of all political stripes tuned out American warnings that their country could soon invade Ukraine, dismissing them as an outlandish concoction in the West’s disinformation war with the Kremlin. But this week, after several television appearances by Mr. Putin stunned and scared some longtime observers, that sense of casual disregard turned to a deep unease.

(These surveys were conducted before Mr Putin announced his mobilisation drive.) But these shocking figures are deceptive. Public opposition to the war can result in criminal prosecution, so people who are critical of the war and the regime are less likely to agree to speak to a pollster. This results in skewed samples and inflates the level of support for the war. Then, as now, except for a few missile attacks, Lviv is probably one of the safest places to be in Ukraine, far from the front lines in the east and the south. Even so, rather than taking place in different public locations around the city, as usual, the forum was convened in an underground theatre on the hilltop campus of Ukrainian Catholic University, a ten-minute drive from the city center. There, for three days, panelists addressed topics related to Ukraine, Russia, war, and culture.

what do russians think of ukraine

Polls have suggested that even though they are the least likely to support the invasion, many still back it. Finding out what young Russians really think about the war in Ukraine is not easy. For Russians this all brings back memories of what happened when President Putin annexed Crimea in 2014 and people queued for hours to get cash. The Kremlin has said Russia expected these latest sanctions and is ready for them, although it has not said whether businesses will be given extra help, as they were during the pandemic.

  • Many shout about it openly, but it doesn’t end in anything good.
  • 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.
  • In the meantime, sanctions affect every Russian citizen in their daily lives – both those who support and those who oppose the war, those at home and those abroad.
  • Yesterday, I couldn’t buy contact lenses because they ran out in the store where I would normally buy them.