The perception of sanctions has not undergone significant changes compared to February 2020: sanctions do not concern 35% of respondents at all. The share of Russians who believe that Western sanctions affect only a narrow circle of people responsible for Russian policy towards Ukraine has doubled to 41%.
The perception of sanctions has not changed significantly compared to February 2020: sanctions do not concern more than a third (35%) of respondents (31% in 2020); 31% are concerned, but not too much (36% in 2020); 19% are rather concerned (no change since 2020); 13% are deeply concerned (12% in 2020).
Compared to June 2016 the number of Russians who believe that Western sanctions really affect only a narrow circle of people responsible for Russian policies towards Ukraine has doubled. The number of respondents who believe that sanctions directly affect broad segments of the population has decreased by 15% – to 46%.
METHODOLOGY
The survey by the Levada Center was conducted December 16 – 22, among a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample was comprised of 1640 people aged 18 or older in 137 municipalities of 50 regions of the Russian Federation. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as percentages of the total number of participants along with data from previous surveys.
The statistical error of these studies for a sample of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%
The ANO Levada Center is included in the registry of non-commercial organizations acting as foreign agents.