Kremlin Wants Russians to Pay Less Attention to War in Ukraine, ‘Nezavisimaya Gazeta’ Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 4 – The results of a new Public Opinion Foundation poll suggesting that Russians are paying less attention to the war in Ukraine are not simply a reflection of war weariness but perhaps more significantly the result of a Kremlin decision to reduce the salience of the war for Russians for its own purposes, the editors of Nezavisimaya Gazeta say.

            On the one hand, they suggest, the Kremlin has few victories to point to and would very much prefer that Russians not focus on the conflict and begin to ask more questions as to why Moscow hasn’t achieved everything that it has promised at one time or another (ng.ru/editorial/2024-07-04/2_9042_red.html).

            And on the other, the editors say, Putin and his team would like Russians to be ready for some radical shift, either involving the end of the war via negotiations or the dramatic expansion of the war to include attacks on other countries and doesn’t want to be constrained in any way by a public focused on the current war.

            This is just one example of polls being used not to measure public opinion but to direct it, Nezavisimaya Gazeta says in a lead article. But it is especially important on issues like war and peace where the Kremlin has a vital interest in making sure that public opinion will follow its lead rather than make choices for itself.