More than Half of All Russians are ‘Very Tired’ of War in Ukraine, according to a VTsIOM Poll Conducted for the Kremlin, ‘Vot Tak’ Reports

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 30 – The Kremlin asked the VTsIOM polling agency to conduct a survey on Russian attitudes toward the war in Ukraine. According to the Vot Tak channel which gained access to the results, 56 percent of Russians say they are “very tired” of the war and another 27 percent say they “agree in part” with that position.

            These figures represent an increase in both over the past year, by nine percent in the first case and six percent in the second and together represent the highest rate of war weariness yet measured in Putin’s Russia (vot-tak.tv/89729451/kreml-gotovitsya-k-vyboram-gosdumy-2026 and moscowtimes.ru/2025/10/30/bolshe-polovini-rossiyan-vpervie-zayavili-chto-ochen-ustali-otvoini-a178841).

            That the share of Russians who are tired of the war has risen so high is important, but perhaps even more important is the fact that the Kremlin feels the need to have such surveys conducted but not published and appears to have been doing so for at least the last two years, an indication that some around Putin are worried about such a trend given their claims about popular support for Putin's war.