Number of Russians supporting war in Ukraine almost halved since February | Abroad

In less than a year, Russian support for the invasion of Ukraine has plummeted. This was revealed by the telephone survey by polling organization Chronicles, which was conducted in mid-October. It number of supporters of the war – those who express support for the war, are against a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine as long as Moscow has not achieved its war goals and believe that the Kremlin should prioritize military spending – was between February and October this year decreased from 22 percent to 12 percent.

The people who have a support the withdrawal of Russian troops without achieving the war objectives, has remained stable again. That figure fluctuates between 39 and 40 percent. 33 percent of respondents think not that Russian President Vladimir Putin must pull back and prefers it continuing the war. In February that was still 47 percent, a decrease of 14 percent. A decline was also noted last summer: in July this was 39 percent of respondents.

Figures from Levada Center, another independent Russian polling organization, are in line with those from Chronicles. Their data, published in late October, shows that 55 percent of respondents agree with Russia peace negotiations must start. 38 percent would be in favor of continuing the war.

The war has created new social tensions in Russia and exacerbated existing ones. There are already more than 180,000 complaints from relatives of Russians who were mobilized. The Russian opposition channel Vazhnye Istorii wrote this earlier this week. The complaints mainly concern payments to soldiers, their mobilization status, missing persons and poor medical care.

According to GUR (Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Service), protests and social tensions are increasing in Russia, especially in the west of the country. GUR also states that increasing crime, more alcohol abuse, inflation and rising prices would cause tensions. The war in Ukraine would exacerbate these tensions, it is said.

Even though the Kremlin is trying to create and maintain unity, these figures seem to show that the war and the associated social tensions are still having an effect on Russian society. The question is whether this will also influence the presidential elections in March next year. Putin is expected to focus more on perceived domestic stability than on the war during his campaign.