Does the Russian public support Vladimir Putin’s decision to start a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine?
The situation has been unfolding fast, and so far only a few pollsters and agencies have been able to collect and present some fragmentary data. The results reflect how problematic, both methodologically and politically, the use of surveys in authoritarian states – let alone countries at war – can be.
The numbers thus vary significantly. According to recent results from state-controlled pollsters WCIOM, 71% of respondents supported Russia’s “special military operation” in a 3 March poll. The recent results from another state-controlled pollster, FOM, showed that 65% of respondents supported the “launch of Russia’s special military operation” in a 25-27 February survey. A private survey agency, Russian Field, reported that 58.8% of respondents supported “Russian military action in Ukraine” in polls conducted from 26 to 28 February. A poll from mid-February, before the invasion, commissioned by CNN and conducted by a British agency, Savanta ComRes, reported that 50% of respondents would support Russia’s use of force to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, and 36% would support Russia’s use of force to “reunite” Russia and Ukraine.
