Poll: Russians most interested in asking Putin when war will end

Elsa Court, The Kyiv Independent news desk
·2 min read
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If given the chance to ask President Vladimir Putin any question, 21% of Russians would ask him when the invasion of Ukraine will end, according to a poll published by the Levada Center, a Moscow-based independent polling organization, on Dec. 5.

The Levada Center surveyed Russians on what kind of questions they would like to pose to Putin ahead of the televised press conference and phone-in with Putin on Dec. 14, called the "Direct Line."

The "Direct Line" is an annual event orchestrated by the Kremlin, in which Russians are told they can send in questions to ask their leader. The event was canceled in 2022.

The Levada Center reported that questions pertaining to when the invasion of Ukraine will end were the most popular type of questions those surveyed would like to ask.

Variations of the questions included "when will there be peace," "when will we win," "when will mobilization end," "what are they doing to end this operation," and "when will the special military operation end," using a euphemism the Kremlin uses to refer to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The second-most popular types of questions pertained to pensions and living standards, both of which 8% of respondents would like to question Putin on.

7% of respondents would like to ask Putin about salaries, while 6% would like to ask about the future of Russia, including asking Putin when he will step down as President.

However, 30% of respondents refused to answer Levada's question, with 10% of them saying that they "wouldn't ask anything," and 20% replying "I don't know, it's difficult to answer."

4% said that they had "no questions," as "everything is fine," while another 4% wanted to simply thank Putin and wish him good health.

The survey was conducted using a representative sample of 1,625 people across 137 settlements of the Russian Federation.

Poll: Most Russians would not support ending invasion if it meant returning occupied territories to Ukraine
According to the survey, only 34% of Russians would support President Vladimir Putin if he decided to end the invasion and return occupied territories to Ukraine. However, 70% of respondents said they would support Putin’s decision to end the invasion of Ukraine without returning territories.
The Kyiv IndependentElsa Court

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