Secret opinion poll shows Russians support the war

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 07 Dec 2022 by Alex Teddy

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Polls in Russian run by the Levada Center and the state run VTsIOM show that around 75% of people are pro-war. Putin is keen to know the state of public opinion. Crafting it through media control is his obsession. On December 6 the Moscow Times claimed to have gained a copy of unpublished statistics. The poll was run by a state controlled entity. 900 people were questioned by phone on November 17. The margin of error was 3%. 60% of people say starting the war was right. It was 70% in spring 2022. Young people are much less supportive of the war than seniors. Young men are the ones who could be drafted and young women do not want their husbands and boyfriends to be killed. Among people over 45: 76% say it was right to start the war. This has hardly changed since March 2022.  36% of young people are unsure whether it was right to start the war.  67% of people think Russia should continue fighting. Notably some people who think it was WRONG to start the war believe it is RIGHT to continue it. Only 18% of people want to end the war. 42% of people say the war is not going according to plan. This is the highest ever. Only 22% say it is going to plan. Again there is a generation gap with a lot more young people than old people saying it is not going well. In November 2022 Meduza published a leaked poll run by the Federal Guard Service showing a lot of people want to end the war by talks. Bureaucrats doubt that there will be another mobilization. The reaction last time was very negative. Moreover, the military cannot absorb the draftees it already has. There is no sign of large scale protests. There seems to be no chance that the people will topple Putin.