A reconsideration is taking place in the Russian population. Actually, the Kremlin wanted to keep the investigation secret. No wonder: the numbers are anything but intoxicating. Only 25 percent of Russians support Putin’s war in Ukraine. 55 percent is for peace negotiations. Death must come to an end.
The results of the study come from the FSO and were commissioned by the Kremlin. The FSO is a special body responsible for protecting the government. And should, for example, prevent coup attempts. The poll was never intended to be public.
However, the independent news portal Meduza was able to leak the data. The figures show that a large part of the Russian population is against the war in the neighboring country. The Levada Center, the only large independent sociological center in Russia, also notes a similar trend: 57 percent were “in favor” and “rather in favor” of peace talks, 27 percent “in favor” and “rather in favor” of continuing the war.
The big protests are cancelled
In July, only 30 percent of Russians voted for peace. Despite the attack on Ukraine, the population thought: “Life goes on and even gets better,” says Denis Volkov, head of the Levada Center. A few months ago, the Russian people did not feel that the war affected them.
The number of peace lawyers has doubled in the past six months. And yet: there are hardly any demonstrations, the Russian people act passively and a coup d’état is very unlikely, according to experts. But why?
“Russia is now a totalitarian power state in which a few can do nothing against the absolute ruler,” Eastern Europe expert Alexander Wöll (54), a Slavic scholar at the University of Potsdam, told Blick.
“Many Russians remember the chaotic conditions well”
Now your deductibles have increased. On the one hand the economy is suffering, on the other hand there was an enormous flow of refugees due to the partial mobilization. And the Russians are losing more and more territory in Ukraine.
Wöll can well understand that the Russian people have supported Putin for so long. “The 90s were marked by violence in Russia. Many Russians still remember the chaotic conditions well,” says the Slavist. That quickly changed when Putin came to power. “For the first time in Russian history, there was a kind of prosperity among the population.” That is why many would hesitate to publicly criticize Putin.
In twenty years, the head of the Kremlin has managed to establish a middle class in Russia. The gap between rich and poor used to be almost unbridgeable. When former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych (72) fled Ukraine for Russia in 2014, the Maidan conflict broke out and protests also flared up in Russia. Many people opposed the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Soon after, Crimea was annexed.
Ironically, the middle class that has made Putin rich is turning against him. “Putin had to respond. Russia went from an authoritarian to a totalitarian state – it is almost Stalinist now,” Wöll clarifies. Since the start of the war, Putin has also ensured that protests are nipped in the bud. Criticizing the Kremlin or politics could result in jail time.
Hardly any protests since March
Russians don’t even know democracy. The Eastern Europe expert on Blick: “The tradition of serfdom from the time of the tsars has left its mark to this day.” That means: there is a ruler who can give his citizens everything and take everything. A single human life does not count. “The Russians are sent to the front without weapons and without equipment. That was already the case in the First World War,” explains Wöll.
Although the Russians have largely stopped supporting the war, this has no bearing on politics. Sources close to the Kremlin told Meduza they were not afraid of anti-war protests. And a statistics from OVD-Info about arrests of the demonstrations against the war shows: Hardly anyone takes to the streets anymore. In March, 15,343 Russian protesters were arrested. Since then, the laws have been tightened again and again. In November there were only 81 demonstrators.
Nevertheless, authorities are concerned “not to overheat the situation and unnecessarily annoy people,” the source said. Surveys on the war should therefore no longer be conducted, instead polls should focus on ‘more positive topics’. One thing is clear: the people want peace negotiations. But neither Ukraine nor Russia are ready to make concessions. Russians already fear a new wave of mobilization in the winter.