Many times the West has called on Russian citizens to stand up to Vladimir Putin’s moves, but the reality is very different. Alexey Levinson, head of the sociocultural department at the Levada Center, the last independent polling institute in Russia, paints a picture of the situation. Accused by Kremlin men of being a “foreign agent” domestically, Levinson is frowned upon and seen as an antiMoscow man. This is his analysis in Corriere della Sera: “Putin enjoys a rating that has few precedents. 83% of Russians support this. More than today it was popular only in 2014, after the annexation of Crimea, 91% claimed it. But its consensus will continue to grow, there are indicators “
“53% of people in Russia Levinson continues “definitely support the war in Ukraine, 28% “tend to; for 43% the war serves to “protect the Russians of the autonomous republics, for 25% it is a “defense war, for 21% “it fights nationalism. Pollsters don’t use the legally forbidden word “war,” but Russians now know full well that one is being waged. The sanctions began in 2014 and have never shaken a single Russian’s mind. There was never more than 1520% of respondents speculating that they were correct, let alone useful. And that was before the war. “Now those affected feel even closer to the government,” says the antiPutin sociologist.
