Russian forces have attacked Ukraine on the orders of Vladimir Putin who announced a “special operation” at dawn on Thursday. World leaders have denounced the invasion and warned that it could ignite the largest war since 1945.
Though many Russians may support their president’s actions in Ukraine, others are against the conflict. A new poll released by the independent Levada Centre showed only 45% of Russians were in favour of Putin’s recognition move that preceded the invasion. There were protests against the war in town and cities across Russia on Thursday night.
A Guardian callout asking for Russian views about the situation with Ukraine received scores of submissions from people across the country, though the majority came from respondents living in Moscow. Many of those who contacted the Guardian did so to express their concern over the escalation.
Among the submissions were younger Russians who had got in touch to say that they were opposed to their government’s actions in Ukraine, with many emphasising they had family, friends and partners in Ukraine. “Russian youth are devastated by the prospect of war between Russia and Ukraine,” Dmitry, a 21-year-old student in Moscow, said. “All of my friends and I, who live in Moscow and other Russian cities, are extremely scared. No one expected that the war would really break out.”
I went to sleep about five o’clock [on Thursday morning after watching Putin’s address to the nation]. I spoke to my friend from western Ukraine, as he was discussing the possibility of leaving the country, and when I woke up at nine, I realised it [the attack on Ukraine] had happened.”
Dmitry, who was one of more than 150 people who responded to the reader callout, said there was a “clear generational divide”. “I would say that almost all of my friends oppose Putin’s actions. There are numerous posts on social media,” he said.
“I fear Putin is unstoppable. This time he’s not concerned about public opinion. There was an overall euphoria [in Russia] after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 but now literally nobody supports the war. People may support Luhansk and Donetsk regions as they’re Russian-speaking but nobody wanted us to invade Ukraine. For the younger generation, we’re worried about what’s going to happen with our future.”
Several Russians who got in contact with the Guardian spoke about a lack of desire for conflict and a sense that the government was not representative of its people. Natalia, a 52-year-old teacher in St Petersburg, said: “I am totally devastated about the tragic events unfolding in Ukraine. I know that many people living in Russia experience a deep sense of guilt and shame for the actions and hostile rhetoric of the Russian leaders many of us have never even voted for.” Natalia said that she viewed Putin’s military actions in Ukraine “as an extreme act of aggression and hostility towards an independent country” and believed harsher sanctions should have been imposed in 2014.
The teacher said that while some Ukrainians “quite justly” blamed Russians for not speaking out against their government, the crackdown on political protest had intensified in the past decade. Many Russians lived with a “fear of imprisonment, which nowadays, has become a sad reality”, Natalia said, adding: “There’s little resemblance between Russia of 2022 and Russia of 2011 when hundreds of thousands of people took to streets to protest against the rigged elections. However, Russians are not silent – we are being silenced.”
Some view the crisis in Ukraine as being fuelled by pressure from the west. Ilya from Sochi believes Putin’s actions are “following the feelings of insecurity” among Russians. “It seems to me that Russian society feels under siege by Nato and the US and feels it needs to defend itself,” he said. “Ukrainian nationalists … want to align Ukraine with the west, while disregarding shared history, cultural and familial ties between nations.” He feels the entire situation is unfair but hopes that a peaceful resolution can be found.
Another concern raised was one of the Russian economy and the impact sanctions would have on the country’s citizens. “We’re economically dependent on other countries and apart from the financial hardship caused by the pandemic, we’re still feeling the consequences of the sanctions from 2014,” said Kristina from Kaliningrad.
She said with the onset of a war, prices would rise the “regular” citizens of Russia would be affected, not the “oligarchs”. “Our economy is still developing and we are not recovering. These latest sanctions will just make it even worse for everyone,” she said.
Kristina spoke about the psychological pressure many Russians were under amid the rapidly escalating crisis in Ukraine. “It’s impossible to overestimate the amount of stress ordinary Russian people are under right now. One of the most stressful things is the rest of the world thinking Russia is evil and that this was the people’s decision. It wasn’t and we are not equal to our leader.”
“For a regular citizen it is hard to understand what is true and what is false, who is right and who is wrong,” she said. Kristina said that most people she knew were “harsh critics of Putin’s actions” and sympathised with Ukraine “where some of us have friends and families”, while others were confused by the situation. “What I know for sure is that no one wants any kind of war.”
