Why Many Russians Feel a Deep Unease Over Going to War The New York Times

· 7 min read
Why Many Russians Feel a Deep Unease Over Going to War The New York Times

But Pozner argued that Russians understand an invasion of Ukraine would be costly. For example, Novaya Gazeta blurred out the anti-war poster held up by a protester who interrupted a live news bulletin on Russian state TV. Online, most independent news websites are blocked or restricted, and so are Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The fact that the majority of Russians tune in to TV news means they are inclined to at least hear the Kremlin's message - and possibly believe it. The most popular responses, a third of all telegrams, were expressions of sympathy, support and "calls to be patient until Russia releases them," and a "reminder of the brotherhood of the two peoples."

  • Gen Sanders' speech was intended to be a wake-up call for the nation.
  • But now time has passed, it’s become obvious that no positive outcomes are to be expected.
  • But surrounded by reminders of Russia's often relentlessly violent past I felt war was now inevitable.
  • It also geolocated combat clashes to the north-west of Bakhmut, west of Donetsk city and south of Robotyne.
  • Ukraine’s defence intelligence said in December that rat-bite fever had been spreading rapidly among Russian soldiers on the Kupyansk front.

The second narrative, prevalent on news programmes, emphasises that the “special military operation” in Ukraine is being conducted by professionals to liberate the Russian people of Donbas and other regions. It is presented as a “just war” predicated upon Russia’s responsibility to help Russians in need. Yet Volkov added that this tolerance, however passive, is likely to remain quite stable, even strong. “If I watched different channels, I would probably have a different opinion, but I don’t watch them,” she said. It’s not that she doesn’t know alternative information is out there, but that she doesn’t want it, lest her vision of the world come under threat. “It’s not about having to reconsider this one event but everything you thought and understood over the last ten or fifteen years,” Volkov told me.

Should doctors who are public officials have the right to spread medical misinformation to the general public?

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think-tank said it had confirmed Russian advances to the south and south-west of the settlement. The irredentist claims to the regions have long been made by Ukrainian nationalists.  Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed six Russian regions were “historically inhabited by Ukrainians”.

  • ” — showed that there is little enthusiasm for a “real,” large-scale war among members of Russia’s modern, urban society (the country’s military operations in Syria and eastern Ukraine in recent years were not seen as real wars).
  • Many commentators declared that this rhetoric would undermine the fragile support of the majority for the war.
  • In a written response to questions, she said that despite the self-censorship, pollsters "can usually have higher confidence in the reliability of poll findings that show some fluctuation over time."
  • Usually, people will spread the word about protests secretly.
  • Mostly because I don’t understand how anyone could take this step – to send people to fight, to kill others.

But by Monday customers of Russia's biggest state-backed bank, Sberbank, told BBC Russian they could not order cash via the app at all - they had to go to its office and sign a form to do so. Dollars and euros began running out within a couple of hours of the invasion. Since then,  https://euronewstop.co.uk/what-is-china-saying-about-ukraine.html  limited amounts of those currencies have been available and there is a cap on how many roubles you can withdraw. "When the operation in Donbas started I went to the ATM and withdrew the savings I had in Sberbank in dollars. Now I literally keep them under my pillow.

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 703

To train and equip that larger army would inevitably require more money. The government says it wants to spend 2.5% of national income on defence - but has still not said when. A number of European countries also rehearse for civil emergencies - with exercises that involve ordinary citizens as well as the military. The UK's defence secretary has also warned that we need to be prepared for a war.

  • Overall, researchers say they have tracked just a 9% fall in support for the war last year.
  • A larger country claiming a smaller country is called imperialism,” he told CNN by email.
  • His speech comes after weeks of speculation over whether the Kremlin would seize the occasion to announce an escalation in the war, says Mai’a Cross, Edward W. Brooke Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Northeastern.
  • Contrary to Western warnings that Russian President Vladimir Putin is putting forces in place for an attack on the country’s western neighbor, only 13% of Russians think the Kremlin is likely to initiate military action towards Ukraine.

He is a strong believer in a professional army made up of volunteers. But he was making the point that if war broke out troop numbers would be too small. The overall effect means Finland can muster one of Europe's largest armies. The size of its active armed forces is only 19,000 personnel, but it can call on another 238,000 reserves. In Sweden and Norway, conscription is partial - not everyone gets drafted. But it boosts the strength of the professional armed forces, which is often relatively small.

Ukraine-Russia war live: Russia 'captures Ukrainian village'

Balazs Orban, chief political aide to the prime minister, said Hungary sent a proposal to the EU over the weekend showing it was open to using the budget for the aid package if other "caveats" were added. Mr Szijarto will be in the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak. At the start of 2022 one dollar traded for about 75 roubles and a euro for 80. But the war has helped set new records - at one point on Monday a dollar cost 113 roubles and a euro, 127. The sanctions now hitting Russia are being described as economic war - they aim to isolate the country and create a deep recession there.

Roman Starovoit, governor of the Kursk region, said Mr Zelensky had proven why Russia’s “special military operation” was necessary. Roman Starovoit, governor of the Kursk region, said Mr Zelensky had proven why Russia’s self-described “special military operation” in Ukraine was necessary. “My father has a very strange position – it seems that he simultaneously supports and does not support the special military operation. Overall, he’s always had nationalist views, so it’s not surprising. I haven’t lived with my parents for many years, but even if I did, I wouldn’t argue with them, because it’s their business what to think. You can argue that it isn’t realistic or human to force all Russians into a black-and-white response—either oppose the war or you are complicit.

what do russian citizens think of ukraine

Unnamed Indian government sources have suggested India wants to distance itself from Russia, according to Reuters news agency. "The nightmare scenario would be that the states close to Russia double down on aid to Ukraine while those farther west decide to force a deal on Putin's terms. Then Europe itself could fracture," he says. European countries have largely outsourced much of their military capacity and thinking on strategy and security to the States through NATO. Hungary has signalled it is ready to compromise on EU funding for Ukraine -  after Brussels reportedly prepared to sabotage its economy if it did not comply.

  • Probably yes, if more people had stood up for their freedom and challenged state TV propaganda about trumped up threats from the West and Ukraine.
  • Data was weighted to be representative of the Russian and Ukrainian populations by age, sex, and region.
  • He had been born in Kyiv in 1977, when Ukraine was still a part of the Soviet Union, but was brought up and educated in the United Kingdom, after his parents went into exile there.
  • He says officials are instead monitoring the situation to make sure that it's "under control."
  • One of my friends is against our government while her grandmother supports them, and I know that’s caused a quarrel between them.

“The Russian leadership tends to define Russia as the successor state of the Soviet Union. More so than Ukrainians, Russians have a difficult time defining a history without the Soviet Union at the center,” the Yale historian said. Ukrainians overwhelmingly feel Russia and Ukraine should be two separate countries, with 85% saying so, 9% saying they should be one country, and 6% responding that they did not know. No region of Ukraine, and no age group, has a majority where respondents say Russians and Ukrainians are one people. “Russians tend to say Ukrainians and Russians are one people because (1) they generally have had little contact with Ukraine and (2) this is what their president says and very similar to the Soviet line,” Snyder said. Just over a quarter (28%) of people in Ukraine say Russians and Ukrainians are one people, while two thirds (66%) say they are not – a mirror image of the view from across the border.

There are likely many others who hate Russia, but it must be remembered that it’s necessary to separate the Russian government, a mad machine of repression and destruction, and the people of Russia, who for the most part are not guilty. This special operation is complete nonsense and an absurdity that no one needed. Although Ukraine is a much smaller country, it is strong patriotically. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is just another man who has been in power too long. One person shouldn’t be in power for a long time, all this power twists and corrupts people. Gen Sanders' speech was intended to be a wake-up call for the nation.

But many in Russia would be taken by surprise if war was to start soon. In Russia, state-run newspapers and media outlets blame the West for aggression, mirroring the Kremlin's language. OK, I confess I didn't know who the woman was, but her thoughts didn't exactly seem preoccupied by a possible invasion on her country.