In Russia, the number of people expecting a direct war with Ukraine has increased sharply - survey
Moscow – Kiev, February 2 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Shtamm) – More than a quarter of Russians surveyed by VTsIOM believe the likelihood of direct military action between Russia and Ukraine is quite high (three months ago, only 17% thought so), and another 10% believe that war is already underway, Vedomosti writes.
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Half of Russians consider what is happening in Ukraine to be a civil war, 17% see genocide and terror in these events, and only 3% of respondents remember Western intervention, according to a January poll by VTsIOM.
People in Russia continue to describe what is happening as a civil war, says VTsIOM director Valery Fedorov. But, according to him, “hopes for the Minsk agreements have faded, it was not possible to freeze the conflict, the likelihood of a [direct] war [between the Russian Federation and Ukraine] has increased.”
Only 3% explain what is happening with Western intervention, but “this is because we did not ask about the reasons,” Fedorov notes.
Political scientist Alexey Mukhin reminds that the increase in the likelihood of a direct war between Russia and Ukraine is being pushed by Kyiv’s statements that this is already happening, the decision to recognize Russia as an aggressor and the encouragement of all forms of radicalism, very similar to Nazism.
The opinion of Russians about the approaching war is connected with the duration of the conflict, notes political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin: if Crimea was captured in a week and figuring out whether the referendum was held voluntarily is already secondary, then in the case of Ukraine the process goes on from month to month.
The number of people in Russia expecting a direct war with Ukraine has sharply increased – a survey