The share of those surveyed who are willing to support Putin's decision to end the war with Ukraine as early as this week has reached a new high of 80%, according to data from a September survey by the Levada Centre. Meanwhile, 33% of those surveyed said they would be willing to return to Ukraine the territories occupied by Russia in order to bring the war to an end.
Segmentation based on several questions leads to the conclusion that the party of ardent supporters of continuing the war accounts for 10–13% of those surveyed; loyal supporters who believe the war should continue but would agree to end it if Putin proposed doing so make up 15–20%; those seeking peace but unwilling to give up occupied territories, 30%; and a further 30% would agree to this for the sake of ending hostilities.
In any case, it can be stated with confidence that the goal of seizing the remaining parts of the Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions still under Kyiv’s control, which has been a focus of Putin’s for the third year running, does not appear particularly significant to the vast majority of Russians. At the same time, respondents show little faith in his willingness to retreat; on the contrary, the survey revealed a sharp rise in fears of a new wave of mobilisation.
A new survey by ExtremeScan also shows growing pessimism about the prospects of ending the war, following a brief wave of optimism. Meanwhile, the costs of the 'special military operation' have recently become increasingly tangible for Russians. Over 40% believe the war has brought Russia more harm than good, while only 20% think the opposite. The most frequently mentioned recent events and problems include mobile internet outages (almost 80%) and 'shelling and drone attacks' (40%). At the time of the survey, a nationwide petrol shortage had not yet been widely felt: only 5% of those surveyed mentioned it overall, though in the Far Eastern Federal District one in four recalled the issue, and in the Southern and Volga districts one in five did so.
The proportion of Russians surveyed ready to support Putin’s decision to end the war with Ukraine as early as this week has reached a new record high of 80%, 53% of whom said they would 'definitely support' such a move, according to data from the September poll by the Levada Centre (as usual, conducted in the last week of the month).In May 2023, support for this scenario stood at 62%; from September 2023 to October 2024, it averaged 70%; and by February 2025 it had risen to 75%, with 45% expressing definite support. Only 13% would oppose such a decision. This is down from 20% a year earlier.
However, this wording of the question was presented to only half of the respondents; the other half were given a clarification: 'to end the military conflict with Ukraine and return the annexed territories to Ukraine.' This scenario was supported by 33% and opposed by 58%, 41% of whom 'definitely opposed' it. The Levada Centre has conducted this survey experiment six times since May 2023 and has consistently obtained similar results: on average, 31% of those surveyed support returning the occupied territories to Ukraine to end the war, with only one dip below 30%, in February 2025. The opposing camp (around 60%) and its 'core' of firm opponents (42%) have remained equally stable. Among the youngest surveyed (aged 18–24), over half (53%) are ready to return the territories, while 39% are not; but in the next age group (25–39), the ratio is exactly the reverse. It is worth noting that the question does not specify whether the territories in question were seized since February 2022 or since 2014.
The overwhelming majority of those favouring an immediate peace (80%) consist of 33% willing to give up the occupied territories for peace, and 47% who are not. In another part of the survey, respondents were asked whether it was now necessary to begin peace negotiations or continue military action (this wording did not mention Putin and reflected the respondent’s own view). In the latest survey, 62% said peace talks should begin; since spring 2024 this group has consistently averaged 64%, while 30% hold the opposite opinion. Among supporters of peace negotiations, opinions are almost evenly split: 43% are ready to return territories for peace, while 48% are not. Thus, four main groups can be identified in Russian society in terms of attitudes to the war and possible outcomes for its end, as shown in Table 1.
Quote of the day
As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
H.L. Mencken
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