In March, attention to events in Ukraine increased. The level of support for the actions of the Russian armed forces remains consistently high. The number of supporters of peace talks has been declining since the end of last year, while the number of supporters of continued hostilities remains virtually unchanged. Supporters of the peace talks explain their position by saying that “there are many victims,” “people are dying,” and “war fatigue has accumulated.” Those who advocate the continuation of hostilities explain their opinion by saying that “it is necessary to go to the end,” “finish what has been started,” “destroy fascism,” “negotiations will lead to nothing.” About half of the respondents do not rule out a second wave of partial mobilization, but their number has decreased over the past year. The majority of respondents support the annexation of Crimea and believe that it has brought Russia more benefits — their number has grown over the past few years.

The level of attention to events in Ukraine increased slightly in March 2024: thus, 22% of respondents follow “very closely”, another 38% follow “quite closely” (60% in total). At the same time, a third of respondents “follow them without much attention”, another 12% “do not follow them at all”. People aged 65 and older are most closely following the events in Ukraine – 79%.

The level of support for the Russian armed forces has not changed significantly since the beginning of the conflict – the majority of respondents (76%) support the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine, including 48% “definitely support” and another 28% “rather support” the action of Russian army. 16% are against.

Representatives of older age groups are more likely to support the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine (81% among respondents aged 45 to 54, 82% among respondents aged 55 to 64, 86% among respondents over 65), those who trust information from television (86%) and those who who approves of V. Putin as president (82%). 

The level of support for the actions of Russian troops is lower among younger age groups (58% under the age of 24), viewers of YouTube channels (60%). The lowest level of support among those respondents who disapprove of the activities of V. Putin as president of Russia (28%).

Since the end of last year, the number of Russians advocating a transition to peace talks has been decreasing, now about half of the respondents – 48% – say that they should start (while in the second half of last year this figure grew smoothly — from 45% in May to 57% in November). The continuation of military operations is supported by 40% of respondents — this proportion is quite stable.

Support for the idea of negotiations is widespread among women (55%), young people under 24 (59%), those who trust information from telegram and YouTube channels (55% and 65% respectively), as well as those who disapprove of the president’s activities (75%).

On the contrary, supporters of the continuation of hostilities predominate among men (50%), respondents aged 55 years and older (50%), those who trust information from television (49%) and approve of the activities of V. Putin as president (44%).

According to the data of the open-ended questions (when no hints are offered, but the answers are recorded from the words of the respondent and then combined into semantic groups), among supporters of the continuation of hostilities, 40% of respondents explain their opinion by saying that “it is necessary to go to the end”, “finish what was started“, 17% — by saying that “it is necessary to destroy fascism“. The opinion that “peace talks are useless”, “will lead to nothing” and “it is necessary to protect and secure Russia” is expressed by 15% and 14% of respondents, respectively.

Among the supporters of peace talks, half of the respondents (49%) explain their position by saying that there are already “many victims” and “many people are dying.” Among the reasons for the opinion on the need to move to peace negotiations, 15% of respondents call “war fatigue“, another 14% would like “there to be no war“.

The last time this question was asked was in August 2023. At that time, supporters of the peace talks also referred to the fact that “there are many victims on both sides” and talked about “war fatigue”, while supporters of military action said that “one cannot stop halfway”, “fascism must be destroyed”, “not all goals have yet been fulfilled”.

Over the past year, the share of those expecting a second wave of partial mobilization has slightly decreased, about half of the respondents, 48%, believe that it can be announced in the next 3 months (a decrease of 8 percentage points from the last measurement).

Young Russians (52% under the age of 24 and 59% in the 25-34 age group), viewers of YouTube channels (59%), those who believe that the country is moving along the wrong path (72%), as well as those who disapprove are more likely to expect the announcement of the second wave of partial mobilization the activity of the current president (79%).

The opinion that the second wave of partial mobilization will not be announced in the next three months is most often demonstrated by respondents over 65 years of age (41%), TV viewers (43%), respondents who believe that the country is moving in the right direction (43%), who approve of the activities of V. Putin (40%).

In the February poll, the Levada Center asked about a possible announcement of general mobilization in Russia. Respondents are noticeably less likely to admit the possibility of declaring general mobilization (as opposed to partial mobilization) – the proportion of those who expect general mobilization is two and a half times lower and is at the level of 18%.

Since March 2014, the absolute majority of Russians support the annexation of Crimea to Russia, in March 2024 91% of Russians were in favor of joining (68% were “definitely in favor”, 23% were “rather in favor”), 4% of respondents were against.

More often than others, those who do not approve of the activities of V. Putin do not support joining. (24% of the group). 96% of the president’s supporters support joining.

Throughout the entire observation period, the majority of Russians believe that the annexation of Crimea has brought Russia more benefits in general, in recent years their number has gradually increased and in March reached a maximum of 71% of respondents. 13% of respondents believe that the annexation of Crimea caused more harm, another 17% found it difficult to answer.

The opinion that the annexation of Crimea to Russia has brought more benefits is more common among respondents over 65 years of age – 75%, more affluent Russians – 75% (who can afford durable goods), TV viewers and those who believe that things in the country are going in the right direction – 80% each, and also those who approve of the activities of V. Putin – 76%.

More often than others, young Russians (22% under the age of 25), those who barely have enough to eat (16%), viewers of YouTube channels (22%), who believe that the country is moving on the wrong path (33%), believe that the annexation of Crimea to Russia has caused more harm, who disapproves of the president’s activities (39%).