Anxiety among Russians Returning to Record Level of End of 2022, New Poll Suggests

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 1 – After Putin declared a mobilization in October 2022, 70 percent of Russians reported that they or their acquaintances were feeling anxious. Thereafter, the share doing so fell significantly; but now it has risen to 57 percent, according to polls by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM).

            The new figure is not only the highest since the end of 2022 but was three percentage points higher than a week earlier, likely the result of drone attacks and talk about the likelihood of a new mobilization after the Duma elections (fom.ru/Dominanty/15365 and novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/08/01/trevoga-sredi-rossiian-vernulas-k-urovniu-dekabria-2022-goda-news).

            Among the events that Russians told FOM in a separate poll that they currently are most focused on were the war in Ukraine (43 percent) including drone attacks on targets in the Russian Federation (18 percent), drone attacks on Wildberries warehouses (10 percent), fuel prices and shortages (8 percent).

            Russian commentators suggest that the most recent increase in anxiety won’t be reversed anytime soon, with Ekaterina Schulmann saying that “we’re going for a record” in the near future (t.me/eschulmann/9086) and Ilya Grashchenkov saying no one should be surprised by the rise in anxiety levels given what is in the news (t.me/thegraschenkov/7026).