(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 https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-will-happen-if-russia-wins-ukraine.html 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.
- 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.
- To understand the nature and composition of the pro-war majority, you need to dig deeper.
- Next, two separatist regions in Donbas, Donetsk and Luhansk, declared their independence from Kyiv.
- Examples of Yugoslavia and Libya, two states bombed by NATO forces, are used to drive fears that Russia may be next.
- A couple walk in front of the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower and St Basil's cathedral in downtown Moscow.
“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.
Russia unnerved by drone attacks blamed on Ukraine
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.
- One local family visiting St Petersburg were shocked to find nothing had changed while their own lives had been turned upside down.
- Jenny Hill is in Moscow, and has been keeping her ear to the ground.
- The early polls can be treated, like surveys elsewhere, as genuine signals of Russian public opinion.
- But to combat the anxiety, we try to remember our connections with friends and family and enjoy the spring weather.
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.
More on the War in Ukraine
Russia has opened up at times after moments of calamity and catastrophe. That a sledgehammer is now a positive symbol of Russian power in executions captured on camera and posted by MPs on Twitter. A bus service has started up connecting the city to the local cemetery where growing numbers of soldiers killed in Ukraine are being buried. Under a bridge someone has daubed PEACE in big red letters. In Pskov, near the Estonian and Latvian borders, the atmosphere is gloomy and everyone pretends the war has nothing to do with them, I am told.
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.
Russia's Shifting Public Opinion on the War in Ukraine
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 early summer Ukraine 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.