Majority of Russians support war with Ukraine, consider it successful and want negotiations
74% of Russians support the war with Ukraine (photo: Getty Images)
Russian support for the war against Ukraine has remained consistently high since February last year. The number of supporters of "peaceful" negotiations has increased to a maximum, but on specific conditions, reveals the review by the independent Levada Center.
In November 2023, the majority of respondents (74%) expressed support for the war, while 18% of respondents did not support it.
Over the past five months, the share of respondents who believe that the war against Ukraine is successful has continued to grow. In November of this year, 66% of respondents thought so (compared to 55% in June).
The share of Russian residents who believe that peace talks should be launched has once again reached its highest level for the entire period of observation - just like in October 2022 (after the defeat of Russian troops in the Kharkiv region and the announcement of mobilization), 57% of respondents called for the need to start negotiations. The continuation of hostilities is supported by 36% of respondents.
The Levada Center survey was conducted on November 23-29, 2023 among 1625 people. The research is conducted at the respondent's home through a personal interview. The statistical error (probability 0.95) does not exceed 3.4%.
As a reminder, according to a Levada Center poll conducted in August 2023, Russians are mostly not ready to compromise. Only 20% of respondents believe that to end the war and sign a peace agreement, certain concessions should be made to Ukraine (and only 5% "definitely" agree to make concessions).
According to respondents, Ukraine's accession to NATO (75%), the return of Donetsk and Luhansk regions to Ukraine (75%), and the return of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions to Ukraine (68%) are unacceptable under any circumstances. Since February 2023, these opinions have remained largely unchanged.
