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. Eastern Ukraine has a higher share of people (45%) who see themselves as ‘one people’ with Russians compared to western Ukraine, but even there, it is not a majority view like in Russia (64%). A larger country claiming a smaller country is called imperialism,” he told CNN by email. “Inside Russia the West is presented as a villain that is abusing Ukraine to undermine Russia’s greatness. In the event of Russian military aggression, Russia will be portrayed as fighting the US and NATO forces, and not killing its Slavic brothers,” Lutsevych said. The survey, of more than 1,000 people in each country, was carried out online from February 7 to 15, before Putin’s speech Monday and Moscow’s recognition of two breakaway separatist republics in Ukraine.
- Donald Tusk has called the war between Ukraine and Russia a battle between “good and evil”.
- Even as Russians tend to say Russians and Ukrainians are one people, a majority of Russians (54%) say they should be two countries – although a third (34%) say they should be one country.
- Restrictions on reporting are increasingly severe, and access to almost all independent outlets is blocked or limited - or they censor themselves.
- A spate of Ukraine-linked attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure have reportedly led Moscow's energy ministry to propose restricting flights over energy facilities.
- The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the older generation is drowning in propaganda and believes that Putin’s actions are justified.
Hungary has signalled it is ready to compromise on EU funding for Ukraine - after Brussels reportedly prepared to sabotage its economy if it did not comply. Meanwhile, Moscow has claimed its forces have taken control of the village of Tabaivka in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. We really want to help, but we haven’t been able to solve problems even in our own country, and now requests are flying around that we stop the war in another country. We write about it on social networks, sign petitions, send money, go to rallies, but so far this hasn’t yielded any results, the government only hits us with a truncheon.
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It also signals an inherent mistrust of state institutions that will be part of Russian society — especially outside of Moscow — well after Putin’s reign ends, whenever that may be. The analysis suggests that Russians, especially outside of Moscow, are not buying the propaganda as they once were. The Kremlin has also been unable to use its propaganda to sustainably mobilize popular sentiment around an affirmative agenda, in this case its war in Ukraine.
- People who are from disadvantaged groups are suffering the most, he adds, because they don't have the resources to adapt.
- "A frank and constructive dialogue is expected to improve relations between states," the Ukrainian president's office said on its official channel on the Telegram messaging app alongside a photo of Mr Szijjarto, Mr Kuleba and Mr Yermak.
- Ukrainians are said to shell their own cities, and Russian troops are presented as liberators.
- For the record, they don’t support the war in general, they do want it to stop; however, they can justify it in their heads somehow.
- 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.
Also, prices for some ordinary things, like cosmetics and food, have doubled, but in many cases, we have no alternative because there are no factories here that produce those products. In response, the US, EU, UK and other countries have levelled sanctions, both general and targeted, and doors have closed to Russians around the world, from research institutions to sporting events, in protest at Russia’s invasion. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, an outcry has arisen around the world.
Russia's Leningrad defences 'poor'
Actually, separatist authorities in Luhansk and Donetsk had announced their own plans to evacuate residents from the two breakaway regions to Russia. The United States has said that false warning about Ukraine attacking the separatist regions could help Putin publicly justify the invasion that launched Feb. 24. Public sentiment in Russia over war casualties has been turning more negative during the intense fighting in recent months in eastern Ukraine, according to a new analysis. Koneva said public opinion in Russia increasingly seems resigned to a longer-term war. Sixteen months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the majority of respondents still support the war, and only 20% say they are against.
- Last week, another senior Nato military chief said countries needed to be on alert "and expect the unexpected".
- It began in February when we saw huge protests in the capital Kiev, against the pro-Russian President, Viktor Yanukovych, who eventually fled to Russia, but not before his security forces had killed many protesters.
- It could be their Soviet past, or the government propaganda that has been poured out for so many years, or just that there is too much fear and anxiety to actually allow the thought that the world is different from what they expect.
- For the past year, the Center for Strategic and International Studies has worked with FilterLabs.AI, a Massachusetts-based data analytics firm, to track local sentiment across Russia using AI-enabled sentiment analysis.
People who are from disadvantaged groups are suffering the most, he adds, because they don't have the resources to adapt. " https://euronewstop.co.uk/where-is-croatia-in-relation-to-ukraine.html must understand that polls show us not what people really think or really believe, but what they want to share," he says. Volkov told Inskeep that he's aware of the pitfalls with these polls, but they may still have valuable information to teach us. The Levada Center stays within those parameters by asking whether people support the actions of the Russian military. Yet the Army is already looking at how it might create a citizens' army.
Sometimes I can’t help but try to convince them, which obviously doesn’t work. For the record, they don’t support the war in general, they do want it to stop; however, they can justify it in their heads somehow. I deleted some of my messages because the police check social media chats on public transportation. In addition, the police recently searched the flat of a close friend of mine and then put her under house arrest for two months. She had been putting up posters that said “No to war” around the city.
Around 80% of the male population complete some form of military service. Refusal can mean a jail sentence, though there is the option of civilian service out of uniform too. Conscription requires young men and women to serve for a limited time in uniform.
One woman is not certain what to make of the news, although she is generally against the war. "It's politicians trying to sort things out between themselves and ordinary people who are suffering. It won't do any good for my family." And the chaos itself can backfire — or at least quickly diminish its effectiveness — when out of step with lived experience, further undermining legitimacy in the state. Considering all this, telling Russian men and their families that it is in their interest to fight, and die, in faraway Ukraine is a harder story to sell. The state propaganda apparatus — which has expanded from print media and TV into online platforms — has been crucial in crystallizing this acquiescence, especially since Putin came to power in the early 2000s.
Muddling the information environment and sowing mistrust has not generated positive support for Moscow’s misadventures. But as the war drags into a second year and as more Russians feel its effects on their daily lives — especially the growing number of men drafted or conscripted into the armed forces — the limitations of Kremlin propaganda are increasingly apparent. Even those who did agree to answer the questions in Miniailo’s survey displayed a heightened level of fear and discomfort. One man in his fifties said, “It is now prohibited by law to answer what you think about this topic. He said for many people in this group, opinions changed in June 2022 when many realized the conflict was becoming protracted and not the fast military operation initially promised.
- In the third version, the Russian motherland has been declared in danger and hundreds of thousands of men are being drafted to fight.
- Some of my friends are leaving the country right now, and I understand them.
- While polling works when people are willing to tell the truth, other tools are needed in places like Russia where such openness and access cannot be assumed.