Dr. Oleksandr Shulga, Head of the Institute of Conflict Studies and Analysis of Russia (IKAR), visited the Eastern Europe Studies Centre. He presented the Institute’s study “Mirror of Russia: The Sixth Wave”, which looked at the Russian public’s perception of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Presenting the results of the study, Dr. Shulga stressed that the survey used the same methodology as Russian sociologists.
The discussion highlighted the growing dissatisfaction of the respondents with worsening economic conditions and mobilisation, but the Russian public continued to justify the conflict with Ukraine by blaming external political actors such as the US, rather than the Russian government and society. It was also noted that respondents often consider events in Russia to be developing favourably, understand the objectives of the war and consider the decision to go to war to be the right one in order to avoid a show of weakness. Finally, the discussion highlighted the transformation of the war into a routine process and the adaptation of Russian society, which raises concerns about the possible impact on the younger generation.