Paul Goble
Staunton, April 28 – Support for Putin’s war in Ukraine remains high among the Russian population with a majority blaming the US and NATO for the conflict, a new Levada Center poll finds. But it also shows that younger Russians are less supportive than their elders and that all are paying less attention to the conflict than they did in its first weeks.
Among those between 18 and 24, 62 percent say they are paying little or no attention to the war; and among those between 25 and 39, 50 percent say the same thing. Only older age groups are more attention, but even among those 55 or older, 28 percent say they aren’t either (levada.ru/2022/04/28/konflikt-s-ukrainoj-i-otvetstvennost-za-gibel-mirnyh-zhitelej/).
Eighty-two percent of Russians sampled say they are concerned about the conflict in Ukraine, but again, the figures among younger groups are far lower than among those older. Among those 18 to 24, the share saying they aren’t concerned is 18 percent, more than four times the percentage among those 55 and older.
The reasons Russians give for concern are deaths, destruction and suffering, concerns about the military operation as a whole, and a sense of uncertainty about the future. Only six percent are worried about Nazism, and only two percent fear that the conflict will lead to a new world war, despite Kremlin propaganda on both these points.
Two-thirds of Russians think that the special military operation is being successfully carried out, but 17 percent say that it isn’t; and 73 percent believe Russia will win. Fifteen percent say neither will do so, but “in the victory of Ukraine, practically no one in Russia believes. Again, young people are more negative than their elders.
As far as who is to blame for the war, 57 percent say it is the US and NATO, 17 percent Ukraine, and only seven percent Russia.
No comments:
Post a Comment