What do you think about war

Russia-Ukraine: What do young Russians think about the war?

Young Russians tell us about a war few wanted and how the sanctions are affecting their lives.

In response, the US, EU, UK and other countries have levelled sanctions, both general and targeted, and doors have closed to Russians around the world, from research institutions to sporting events, in protest at Russia’s invasion.

Sanctions have targeted banks, oil refineries, military and luxury product exports as well as members of the Russian regime and oligarchs with close ties to the Kremlin. Companies, too, have closed their doors in Russia, including fast-food giant McDonald’s which has temporarily shut its roughly 850 outlets.

Surveys have suggested that the majority of Russians support the invasion. But it is difficult to determine how reliable these surveys are, in light of new crackdowns on free speech and dissent in Russia, where even the use of the word “war” to describe the invasion is now a crime. In the meantime, sanctions affect every Russian citizen in their daily lives – both those who support and those who oppose the war, those at home and those abroad.

Al Jazeera spoke with five young Russians about their views on the invasion, and how the blowback has affected them.

Green ribbons, anti-war symbols, are tied to trees and plants in Moscow [Courtesy of an interviewee]

Anna*, 22, Moscow – ‘None of us wanted this war’

I’m doing OK, but the whole situation is quite tough. Literally, all of my friends and me are shocked. None of us wanted this war, and we stand in opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions. But we have no right to express our position. At demonstrations, people are detained for several days or fined. Now, any anti-war speech can result in up to 15 years of imprisonment. Some of my friends are leaving the country right now, and I understand them.

Russian authorities want to declare Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) extremist. All those platforms will stop working in Russia, but I hope that with a VPN, it will be possible to continue using them.

I deleted some of my messages because the police check social media chats on public transportation. In addition, the police recently searched the flat of a close friend of mine and then put her under house arrest for two months. I was very frightened. She had been putting up posters that said “No to war” around the city. The investigation is ongoing, but she is fine. But the whole situation is awful, of course.

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the older generation is drowning in propaganda and believes that Putin’s actions are justified.

It is surreal. I’ve already stopped communicating with my father and grandfather for a while.

Now, I’m very encouraged by the fact that the world understands that the Russian people did not choose this war, that instead it was started by a president who lives in some absurd reality of his own. And if I am not imprisoned soon for speaking out against war, I want to try – together with like-minded people – to do everything I can to give our country hope for a peaceful future.

A McDonald’s restaurant in Moscow’s Prospect Vernadskogo district [Courtesy of an interviewee]

Yana*, 25, Moscow – ‘It feels like we don’t have any control’

When I think about the conflict, I feel anxious, sad, and frustrated. Mostly because I don’t understand how anyone could take this step – to send people to fight, to kill others. It’s scary.

On one hand, it’s affected everyone – psychologically, economically, and in many other ways. And on the other hand, I understand that we could be hurt if we did something to try and change it. It feels like we don’t have any control. Petitions and protests are forbidden. People are arrested for even walking around the area where a protest was scheduled.

Right now, we can see that the situation is changing every day, and we’re trying to figure out things like, “How can we pay for foreign goods if the bank doesn’t work?” Or, “What are we going to do with these publications, university admissions, and conferences that we’ve been rejected from because we are Russians?”

For example, we can’t access Zoom. And other specialised apps, like Matlab (a programming and computing platform) and Coursera (an online course platform). Also, prices for some ordinary things, like cosmetics and food, have doubled, but in many cases, we have no alternative because there are no factories here that produce those products.

I have a colleague in my laboratory who is a reviewer at an open access science publisher. Now, those who want to publish and are affiliated with Russia have been asked to withhold applications, though they have not yet been officially withdrawn. The same thing with conferences – international events that take place in Moscow are all cancelled.

It’s affected me. I was planning to publish this month. And we’re seeing products disappear from shelves – rice, flour, sugar, canned food – but I guess that’s really just because of mass panic. I have never seen empty shelves in stores in the centre before. Yesterday, I couldn’t buy contact lenses because they ran out in the store where I would normally buy them. It seems like it will close – I saw employees removing shelves and emptying boxes, and the light was turned off.

There aren’t long lines at ATMs any more, but we saw them a few days ago. Right now, we cannot withdraw other currencies at ATMs until September.

I was thinking about leaving Russia, but there is the problem of money – ticket prices have increased tenfold, and also, there’s no one waiting for me over there.

It’s hard to differentiate global problems from everyday ones, as you can see. But to combat the anxiety, we try to remember our connections with friends and family and enjoy the spring weather.

An anti-war painting by Tatyana* describes a feeling that the world has changed forever and that it is vanishing [Courtesy of the interviewee]

Tatyana*, 28, from Moscow, currently in Germany – ‘My parents can justify the war in their heads. I can’t understand why’

I’m OK, physically. Mentally, I’m a bit of a wreck, but I’m managing.

I moved to Germany last year to get my Master’s. However, my whole family is in Russia.

I was planning to go see my family right about this time, but it doesn’t seem possible any more. I mean – there is probably a way to go to Russia, but almost zero way for me to come back to study, and as a new semester is coming, I’m not risking it. I have a residency permit right now, but it expires in May. Because of everything escalating so rapidly, I’m anxious about whether I’ll have issues renewing it due to me being Russian.

Due to Russian cards getting blocked and Russia being disconnected from SWIFT (the international payment system), my family had to send me some money in advance, just in case, and I had to withdraw it really quickly before I lost access to it.

My family has already seen changes in prices. My sister was struggling to get baby products for my nephew because the prices skyrocketed. One of my brothers-in-law and my father will potentially lose their jobs because their businesses worked very closely with European businesses, and all of those lines of communication are closed off now.

We have a distant relative who lives in southern Ukraine. Their town has been directly affected, so we are worried about them. Right now, they are relatively safe, but it’s a constant worry for my family.

We are all affected mentally, scared, and stressed. I’ve been struggling with my mental health for months and everything that’s happening is affecting that a lot.

I’m against the war, and most of my friends and people I know feel the same way. These are mostly people around my age with the same level of education. However, when it comes to family, I, unfortunately, do have a conflict with my parents. This has been pretty hard as we have very different views.

I can’t even really tell why they believe what they believe. It could be their Soviet past, or the government propaganda that has been poured out for so many years, or just that there is too much fear and anxiety to actually allow the thought that the world is different from what they expect. Regardless, I’m having a pretty hard time with it. Being far away from them helps because we try to prioritise keeping our relationship intact and caring for each other more than anything. Sometimes I can’t help but try to convince them, which obviously doesn’t work. For the record, they don’t support the war in general, they do want it to stop; however, they can justify it in their heads somehow.

A shuttered H&M shop on Avtozavodskaya Street in Moscow [Courtesy of an interviewee]

Kira*, 20, Moscow – ‘I don’t want to live in isolation here’

It’s true that all my favourite shops like H&M, Bershka, and P&B are closed. I’m a little bit upset because of this. However, I have my favourite Russian showrooms, so the spring collection will be great, too.

I just bought an iPhone. It was three days before the inflation. It was rather cheap, but now I want to buy AirPods and they’re really expensive. They were 7,000 roubles and now cost more than 14,000 roubles.

My friend was going to be a trainee at an international magazine publisher, but they stopped working in Russia on his first day there. As for me, I’m involved in the sports industry. I’m sure you know about the FIVB world volleyball championship 2022 which was planned in Russia. It won’t be in Russia, now. It’s like having your legs cut out from under you. It’s shocking. How do you live without the thing you were living for?

I got a government email saying that we had until March 14 to download all files from Instagram. After that, it wouldn’t work. TikTok isn’t available either. We have VK (a Russian substitute for Facebook), but it’s not the same.

I can’t even look at the word “Telegram” any more, it was on every story on Instagram. People were linking to new Telegram channels because Instagram is no longer working, saying, “Let’s keep in touch” or “This is my last story, see you on TG.”

Most of my friends say that our government is awful. I don’t support that view, but I do think we need some changes.

There were rallies against the war. But the older generations are for our president. One of my friends is against our government while her grandmother supports them, and I know that’s caused a quarrel between them.

My feelings are mixed regarding the decision of our president.

I want peace, but my grandmother thinks our military is needed to protect Russians in eastern Ukraine. Also, my neighbour is from western Ukraine. She supports our president, despite the fact that her whole family is still over there. When I hear it from Ukrainian people, I begin to doubt that our president’s strategy is wrong. Maybe Putin and his people know more and it’s really all justified. I hope so, and I hope they’ll stop it soon.

The situation in our economy isn’t good today. Our president should care about us, about his people. What about my future? I don’t want to live in isolation here.

I really cannot understand why Russians don’t have the right to eat in McDonald’s. Of course, that may be a strange example, but I just mean those of us who are against war still suffer from it.

An anti-war sketch made by Katya, which shows text saying “Military operation” as crossed out, while under “War in Ukraine”, in brackets, is written “Road to nowhere” [Courtesy of Katya]

Katya, 21, Moscow – ‘I don’t attend protests. It’s too scary, the idea of dying or being locked up for life’

Most of the sanctions seem strange to me. The heads of government started this horror, but prohibitions and sanctions have been imposed on ordinary people. Closing ordinary stores and removing some food from shops is illogical. Why take away even something insignificant from ordinary people? We’re in deep s*** already. The world hates us all, that’s already enough.

As for me, personally, I lost the opportunity to move into my own apartment, which I was supposed to do soon because the renovations became too expensive. Because of this, I will have to live for a long time in a place where I’m not very comfortable.

I can do without access to the blocked social media platforms. But many Russians are being deprived not only of a meaningless feed with entertaining content, but also of memories, work, and also important and truthful information about what is happening, which can’t be obtained from a zombie box (television). They blatantly lie to us on there.

Where I am, people typically express their opinion at rallies, on social networks and among their inner circle. Usually, people will spread the word about protests secretly. But everyone who wants to participate can easily find out about it. For example, in certain online communities, they’ll just post a single number (indicating a date) and everyone understands everything. But I don’t feel safe expressing my opinion, especially when I talk about it online or on the phone. I don’t attend protests. It’s too scary, the idea of dying or being locked up for life. Plus, I can see that despite many years of huge protests, the people have not achieved anything at all. The government doesn’t need the people.

The majority of the people in Russia are against the war. Many shout about it openly, but it doesn’t end in anything good. We really want to help, but we haven’t been able to solve problems even in our own country, and now requests are flying around that we stop the war in another country. Trust me, we’re still trying. We write about it on social networks, sign petitions, send money, go to rallies, but so far this hasn’t yielded any results, the government only hits us with a truncheon.

And, well, if you really want to throw anger at someone, shout at least that Putin is an a****** and his retinue, and not ordinary citizens. What have we to do with it?

As told to Delaney Nolan.

Edited and condensed for clarity and length.

*Names have been changed at the interviewees’ request.

What do you think about war?

What do you think about it? Do you think war is ever O.K.? Personally I think war is stupid and should never be an option, but then I have no clue if talking things out would work. What are your opinions?

history has proven time and again that ‘diplomacy’ does not work in all cases.

sometimes you just have to use brute force to implement change.

war is horrifying and terrible- and should always remain that way- and should always be the final option.

the modern world has been shaped by warfare, the lives of many have been saved because of our willingness to lay it all on the line to back what is believed to be right. there have been some wars that may have been avoided throughout history- but nevertheless it made everyone alive today who they are. all of the rights we hold so dear have all been paid for in blood- I do not believe that ‘diplomacy» would have ever achieved the same results.

I believe in «carrying a big stick- and using it» on whoever forces our hand to do so.

War is just like the law it has no purpose in a perfect world last time I checked this world was not so perfect. In world war II I don’t think It would have ben smart to let those who were dominating and destroying the world into the position to oppress it. When elephants fight the grass suffers. I fear that the world is getting so populated and has so many people in it that that it’s resources may not sustain us all. If that happens everyone will be fighting not to starve. The planet does not get any bigger or smaller but with more and more people there is just less in it.

Of course war isn’t a good thing, and no I don’t LIKE the idea of war, but I’ve realized that there’s just no way everyone is just going to sit and play nice. People are naturally greedy, and even though war is devastating and tragic, it will always be there, and it always HAS been there. Some people just seem to think that its the only way to get things accomplished, and you can’t change their mind for them.

Modern war is usually war of attrition, and is hard to justify morally. I think that there are occasionally situations where war is justified, but the practice of war, the execution, ends up being a very ugly affair for those involved.

I hate WAR! I want their to be peace on earth, I want to see the day when all the nations come together and meet. when we all love each other even though we are different.

What do you think war will be like in 2050?

Warfare has changed drastically over the years. Here’s what we think the future of warfare has in store for us even as we hope that the question becomes purely academic. What’s your prediction about the future of war? Let us know in our comments section.

According to the narrator in «Fallout 3,» war never changes. Philosophically, he may be right. But when it comes to tactics, strategy, equipment and the theater of war, he couldn’t be more wrong.

Based on this model, wars of the future will be fought between relatively small, mobile squadrons with versatile equipment. A key element in this kind of warfare is intelligence. Gathering the right information, processing it and acting on it is key to engaging the enemy without risking innocent populations. In the future, we may see robots used to help clear out enemies, keeping our soldiers out of harm’s way. When only human soldiers will suffice, we’ll see them carrying equipment allowing them quick communication to coordinate efforts as efficiently as possible.

What about nuclear war? During the Cold War, proliferation of nuclear weapons became a serious problem. The United States and the then USSR competed fiercely to build more warheads and missiles. At the end of the Cold War, both nations began to dismantle their nuclear programs. But since then, other nations have joined the nuclear powers and tensions between countries have renewed. Could the future of war really be a nuclear strike?

If it is, the entire world will feel the consequences. Nations spared a direct attack may have to deal with nuclear fallout. The impact on the global economy will be so vast that every life on Earth will be affected.

Could we see another war like World War II, in which armies, navies and aircraft clash? That sort of global conflict doesn’t seem likely but it remains a possibility for isolated wars between smaller nations. What do you think? What is the future of war? Share with us your predictions in our comments!

Why do Russians support the war against Ukraine?

More than 100 new interviews by Russian researchers have shed light on the different groups in Russian society who are pro-war – and why

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Since the very beginning of the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, the reaction of Russians themselves to the war has remained a central question. What do they think about the war? Why do people support it?

Opinion polls generally show that the majority of Russian citizens support Russian military actions in Ukraine. But social scientists have criticised these polls as unreliable. They point out that many of these surveys are run by polling companies loyal to the Russian state; that respondents in authoritarian regimes tend to choose answers that emphasise their loyal attitude towards the authorities; and that all polling companies, including independent organisations, face a high number of rejections when asking people to participate, which again biases the results towards respondents who support government policy.

Most importantly, opinion polls do not show how people who apparently support the Russian military’s ‘special operation’ in Ukraine think. Who are these people? What exactly do they support? What is the logic behind their thinking?

Only a more in-depth study of Russians’ perception of the war in Ukraine can answer these questions.

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Our research

Public Sociology Laboratory, an independent research collective, began conducting in-depth interviews in Russia on 27 February and continues to do so today.

We collected interviews with people both offline and online.

The offline work included interviews at public events in major cities of Russia (mainly Moscow and St Petersburg) – for example, at anti-war or pro-war gatherings – and interviews during the daily routine of our interviewers, for example, with the cashier of a store near home, a hairdresser in a regular salon, a bartender in a favourite bar, fellow train passengers, and so on.

Propaganda and repression mean it is becoming increasingly difficult to get people’s permission to discuss the war

The online interviews were conducted with people who responded to call-outs on social networks, and with people found by the ‘snowball’ method – where a previous respondent or personal acquaintance of the interviewer recruits other people.

Propaganda and repression mean it is becoming increasingly difficult to get people’s permission to discuss the war. At the time of writing, our archive contains 134 anonymous sociological interviews with an average duration of 40 to 50 minutes. Of these, 30 interviews were recorded with those who identify themselves as supporting Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.

We often think of those who support the war as people who believe in Russian state propaganda, who believe Ukraine has been ‘captured by Nazis’ and/or that Ukraine (with the help of NATO) was planning an attack on Donbas and Crimea, and then on Russia.

Another stereotype is that these people support Putin or are ready to ignore the negative consequences of the West’s economic sanctions against Russia.

But our research shows that the reasons people support the Russian military operation in Ukraine are more complicated. The very first interviews we took demonstrated that we would not be able to compile a single portrait of a person who supports the war against Ukraine. Instead, we found a range of types of support, which we have separated into different groups.

December 2021: Russian president Vladimir Putin gives his annual press conference

(1) The state propaganda audience

Among Russians who support the military’s actions against Ukraine, we found people who tend to reproduce the clichés of Russian state propaganda in their reasoning.

These people trust official Russian sources of information (and most often do not consume other media). They justify the war by referring to the need to protect the inhabitants of Donbas from the Ukrainian regime (referred to as “nationalist”, “Nazi” or “fascist”) and to fight Ukrainian “Nazism” or “fascism” in general.

These people are concerned about civilian casualties among Ukrainians, but they believe the Ukrainian army is responsible for this: the latter, they say, hide in residential areas and provoke return fire on civilians. They are inclined to admit that the sanctions will hit the Russian economy, but are ready to “endure” their consequences. They support Putin and despite the fact that they see internal problems in Russia, they are ready to forgive these problems during a difficult time for the country.

When conducting interviews with these informants, however, we noticed one interesting pattern: the more time that had passed since Russia’s initial invasion, the more likely these people were ready to doubt their picture of the world.

“It seems to me that no one except the [Russian] government knows what is really happening there. No one is giving me military intelligence”

In the first week of the war, none of the supporters of this type suggested that information received from official Russian sources could be inaccurate or incomplete.

A 52-year-old former doctor in Moscow interviewed at the beginning of the war said she constantly watched live broadcasts by state propagandist Vladimir Solovyov online – where he often interviews invited experts – and then proceeded to compare it with information from official state sources, the Echo Moscow radio station and independent Dozhd TV channel, which were shut down soon after the start of the war.

“I compare [official sources and Solovyov] to what Dozhd and Echo tell me, and it turns out that Echo and Dozhd, excuse me, were closed down correctly. Well, because what they were broadcasting was. was just embarrassing,” she told us.

And here are the words of an informant interviewed on 18 March, three weeks after the start of the war, who expresses some doubt over what the media are reporting:

“There is no genocide, at least from the Russian side. I say this on the basis of what I hear from the media, what we are given. It seems to me that no one except the [Russian] government knows what is really happening there. No one is giving me military intelligence.” (m, 44 years old, Yoshkar-Ola, builder, supports the war)

(2) Supporters of the ‘Russian world’

We also found conscious, ideologically motivated supporters of the imperial project among our interviewees. These are people who formed their attitude to Russian foreign policy (in general, and to neighbouring states in particular) long before the 2022 invasion. These are mainly people with imperial sympathies and/or nationalistic views, who dream of a strong Russia that would finally defeat its eternal enemy: the West.

These people not only justify Russia’s war against Ukraine, but welcome it. In their eyes, the conflict between Russia and the Western world has been going on for a long time. The war on Ukraine is thus an attempt to establish peace in the future (despite the militant rhetoric of NATO), end aggressive nationalism in Ukraine and return eastern Ukrainians back into the “Russian world”.

Thus one informant, a 42-year-old music industry worker in St Petersburg, explains his support for the “special operation” in the following terms: “This was not a surprise, because I follow the development of international relations and the relationship between Russia and Ukraine, and so on, this whole story. Ukraine is just one of the angles [of the confrontation between Russia and the West]. Everything was building up towards this – it was clear how it was being prepared… This decision [to invade] will contribute to the establishment of peace in Eastern Europe.”

Or take the explanation of a freelance video editor, 28, in Moscow: “For starters, there is a threat to Russian statehood from the Nazi-adjacent regime built in Ukraine, which has been pumped full with Western weapons and is built on an ideology of hating Russia and Russians… First of all, we are talking about the security of Russia. It was on the basis of Russia’s security interests that the decision was made to annex Crimea in 2014. And then, indeed, the denazification of Ukraine, the rivalry with NATO on the territory of Ukraine, the protection of our, in general, gas pipeline on the territory of Ukraine.”

“You can sympathise [with Ukrainians], you can worry [about what is happening], all of that. But here the situation is what it is. War is war”

These people are skeptical about Russian TV propaganda, but rather because they think it is stupid and ineffective – they would prefer to have “better propaganda”. This group knows that Russian forces have killed Ukrainian civilians, but tend to believe that a) the Russian army is trying to avoid civilian casualties, b) the Armed Forces of Ukraine occupy positions in residential areas and provoke casualties, and c) victims are inevitable in any war.

“You can sympathise [with Ukrainians], you can worry [about what is happening], all of that,” said the music industry worker. “But here the situation is what it is. War is war. This war continues only because the Ukrainian side wants to continue it.”

People in this group are not afraid of sanctions because, from their point of view, sanctions will only help Russia rid itself of its economic dependence on the West. They support Putin’s foreign policy, but may be critical of domestic politics. There is no reason to believe that these people are liable to change their attitude towards the war.

Russian authorities banned media from using the word «war» at the start of the invasion

(3) The NATO threat

The third group would prefer that there was no war – but, since it has begun, justify the conflict by the need to respond to NATO’s eastward advance.

A 27-year-old clerk from Moscow told us: “I think that it should have been possible to come to an agreement in the past eight years, find some ways of contact in order to resolve this issue through diplomacy, without military action.

“Unfortunately, Putin launched a special operation. Again, there are prerequisites for this. I consider Russia a great country, isolated from the world, which is pursuing its own path. And, of course, the threat from NATO certainly exists. After all, these are two opposing camps and NATO military bases are placed around Russia. We have already lost many friendly countries in this matter. We’ve lost Ukraine. Well, since they couldn’t come to an agreement, then of course. I think the special operation should be carried out to ensure security in the Russian Federation.”

These people are sceptical of Russian military propaganda and do not trust Russian official media. They use a variety of sources of information, including Russian opposition and Ukrainian media. They tend to believe that the war will lead to economic decline in Russia, the impoverishment of the population, and the division of Russian society into warring camps (a particular concern to many of them).

These supporters of the war can also be critics of Putin’s domestic policies, claiming for instance that “many problems have accumulated inside the country” during his rule.

(4) Personal connections

The fourth group is most likely small, but still important: people who are personally connected with Donbas.

This interview with a 28-year-old hairdresser originally from Horlivka, a town outside Donetsk, who moved to Moscow after 2014, illustrates this logic well:

Q: Do people in Horlivka support the [military] action, do you think?

A: Well, those who are from Donetsk support it. Why? Because since 2014 people have endured [war].

Q: How do you think this will end?

A: I would like to see a truce already. I get photographs every day about how my friends are all dying.

These people tend to treat the Russian authorities with indifference or even negativity, but at this “critical moment” they take its side, which may also be the same side as their loved ones.

For example, our next interviewee opposed the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and was involved in opposition activism – but in 2022 supported the war against Ukraine.

“My parents are there [in Donetsk],” he said, “so I’ve been following the situation all these years… I had to choose between my beliefs and between my friends; between all these Moscow creative and opposition circles and my parents… Although all these years I quarrelled with [my parents] about their attitude to politics, to Putin, to Russia. It is clear that it is pointless to convince them, therefore, at such critical moments, I believe that one must side with one’s relatives so as not to be divided on this issue” (m, 34, Moscow, analyst, supports the war).

These people really hope – based on concrete experience rather than abstract belief – that the current invasion can “end the war”. At the same time, in their view, the main goal of the Russian government should be ending hostilities in their homeland – they are less interested in a march of the Russian army on Kyiv than in another move in the confrontation between Russia and NATO. They probably now see that the end of the war will not come soon.

15 March: «DNR» forces are seen outside Volnovakha

(5) Support “despite everything”

Finally, one of the most interesting categories of supporters of the war are people who criticise the apparent causes, course and consequences of the conflict, yet respond positively when asked directly whether they support the invasion.

These people were relatively few among our informants, which is not surprising. These are precisely the people who are not ready to answer questions about the war; it is difficult to convince them to give an interview and therefore they are underrepresented in research samples.

Our interview with the following interviewee, a 49-year-old education worker from Chelyabinsk, is typical: “I was born in the USSR, and brought up in the spirit of patriotism, so I support my homeland, my state, because I simply cannot do otherwise.

“I am against the war, of course. I feel very sorry for the people who suffer [in Ukraine], because many of us have relatives, friends and acquaintances there. Everyone has someone there. Very few people don’t know anyone in Ukraine.

“Naturally, I am very worried; I feel a sense of shame, although I don’t understand what I am personally guilty of. Probably because these people have stopped sleeping peacefully, living peacefully. And that is the fault of my state. That’s probably it.”

Throughout the rest of the interview, this woman frequently spoke about the negative aspects of the war, such as what Russian soldiers were experiencing (“it’s impossible to watch without crying when someone’s been buried or their body has been returned home”) or the destruction of Ukrainian cities.

Many Russians see the war in Ukraine in a contradictory way. They had little interest in politics and did not reflect on the relationship between Russia and Ukraine before the invasion

Like some informants of this type, she was open to opposing points of view, and is sympathetic to the protesters against the war, but does not believe in the possibility of change. “I think the state should listen to why people oppose war. The protests are, for the most part, useless.”

This interview illustrates the fact that many Russians see the war in Ukraine in a contradictory way. They had little interest in politics and did not reflect on the relationship between Russia and Ukraine before the invasion.

But after the war started, this group faced opposing ideological narratives; they have relatives and acquaintances in Ukraine, or children of military age who they are worried about; their friends and colleagues often bring forward conflicting facts; their immediate circle (including, say, opposition-minded children or relatives) try to convince them not to believe fakes; they feel sorry for people who are dying in Ukraine; their standard of living is falling due to sanctions; they do not see the point in what is happening, but believe there may nevertheless be important reasons for it.

These people do not have a consistent “opinion” that public opinion companies can measure, but they are “counted” as supporters of the war.

Sources of information

Many supporters of the war trust Russian propaganda and receive information from official Russian sources, mainly television. But not all. Some of them actively use YouTube and Telegram, subscribe to many channels and check, among other things, Ukrainian media and Russian opposition news. For some supporters of the war – or those who are dissatisfied with what is happening, but declare their support for the “special operation” – it’s an overabundance of information that becomes a problem rather than a lack of it.

“We all understand that, one way or another, we are victims of various propaganda,” one student from Tyumen told us.

An analyst, 34, said: “I have a set of pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian [Telegram] channels. I try to differentiate between their agendas. I can’t say that the Ukrainian [channels] are particularly objective. I don’t really see a difference between what pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian channels show me.”

People who use Russian television as their main source of information, polls show, tend to trust this information, to support the “special operation” and to be older than those who actively use the internet. But this does not mean that all supporters of the war are consumers of state propaganda. Active users of YouTube and Telegram in Russia may escape the attention of polling campaigns due to their smaller number, but they, to a greater extent than TV viewers, participate in pro-war discussions, including online, where they help set the tone.

Some advocates of war, not surprisingly, refuse to call the war a war. Others, however, criticise the use of the term “special operation” as an unnecessary euphemism. A 46-year-old entrepreneur from Yoshkar-Ola told us: “The conduct of military operations and the use of weapons is definitely war. You can hide anything under the term ‘special operation’. This is war. And there is no need to somehow veil it.”

So what?

Our findings suggest that people can be “against the war” but in support of the “special operation” at the same time, and their answers can change depending on the political context, the media environment, and even the circumstances of the conversation.

But among Russian supporters of the war there are people whose perception of current events stems from long reflections on history and geopolitics, from views and sympathies formed over time. This type of support is much less amenable to change. Thus, we can say that the attitude of Russians towards the regime develops under the influence of state propaganda in general.

Our hypothesis – and one that we plan to test in the future – is that people’s perceptions of the war are changing significantly as the conflict draws on. We have not observed that people’s initial support for the war was replaced by rejecting it – supporters of the war continue to find justifications for Russian military actions. But in recent interviews, we rarely encounter unconditional support for what is happening.

Instead, more often we observe someone’s willingness to admit doubt or complain about a lack of understanding of the causes of the conflict. Whether this may at some point lead to a withdrawal of support is not yet clear.

Russia is in a strange moment. As people who are against the war, we must take people who support it – or who are designated as such – seriously. This does not mean we should share their faith or delusions about the war, but view them as real people, fellow citizens with whom we have to conduct a serious dialogue. Only in this way – and not by marginalising these people as crazy fanatics – can one succeed in communicating a different point of view to them. Dialogue with supporters of the war, which is necessary for campaigning against the war, must account for the diversity of Russian people’s support for the war, their likes and dislikes. After all, they will require an equally diverse set of persuasion strategies.

Interviews were collected by Public Sociology Laboratory, Irina Kozlova and volunteers Irina Antoshchuk, Serafima Butakova, Kira Evseenko, Darya Zykova, Nadezhda Kokoeva, Alexander Makarov, Anna Shabanova.

16 April: This article’s headline was changed to correct inaccurate information.

‘What Every Person Should Know About War’

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By Chris Hedges

War is defined as an active conflict that has claimed more than 1,000 lives.

Has the world ever been at peace?

Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history.

How many people have died in war?

At least 108 million people were killed in wars in the twentieth century. Estimates for the total number killed in wars throughout all of human history range from 150 million to 1 billion. War has several other effects on population, including decreasing the birthrate by taking men away from their wives. The reduced birthrate during World War II is estimated to have caused a population deficit of more than 20 million people.

How many people around the world serve in the military?

The combined armed forces of the world have 21.3 million people. China has the world’s largest, with 2.4 million. America is second with 1.4 million. India has 1.3 million, North Korea 1 million, and Russia 900,000. Of the world’s 20 largest militaries, 14 are in developing nations?

How many wars are taking place right now?

At the beginning of 2003 there were 30 wars going on around the world. These included conflicts in Afghanistan, Algeria, Burundi, China, Colombia, the Congo, India, Indonesia, Israel, Iraq, Liberia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda.

Is there a genetic reason why we fight?

There is no single «war gene.» Combinations of genes can predispose a person to violence. However, aggression is a product of biology and environment. In America, sources of aggressive dispositions include domestic violence, the portrayal of violence in the media, threats from enemies, and combat training.

Is war essentially male?

Worldwide, 97 percent of today’s military personnel are male. This is thought to be a reflection of culture and biology. Fifteen percent (204,000) of American military personnel are female.

Can women fight as effectively as men do?

Yes. While fewer women are «natural killers,» and women are on average smaller than men, there are many women who have the psychological makeup and the physical ability to fight. There are many men without either. Women have shown valor in combat. Dr. Mary Walker won the Medal of Honor during the Civil War.

Why are civilians so attracted to war?

War is often regarded by observers as honorable and noble. It can be viewed as a contest between nations, a chance to compete and be declared the victor.

Does the American public support war?

Between 65 and 85 percent of the American public will support a military action when it begins. Vietnam had 64 percent support in 1965. As American casualties mount, support often decreases. The Korean and Vietnam Wars ended with support levels near 30 percent. World War II support levels never fell below 77 percent, despite the prolonged and damaging nature of the conflict. The Gulf War enjoyed similar levels of support.

How large is the American military?

The active peacetime force of the U.S. armed services includes 1.4 million people, with the Army making up almost 500,000 of that number. The Navy has approximately 380,000 men and women on active duty. The Air Force has approximately 365,000, and the Marines have approximately 175,000. Approximately 1.3 million Americans serve in Reserve and National Guard branches that can be activated in time of war.

How many Americans have died in wars?

More than 650,000 Americans have been killed in combat. Another 243,000 have died while wars were being fought, due to training accidents, injury, and disease. In the twentieth century, approximately 53,000 Americans were killed in combat in World War I, 291,000 in World War II, 33,000 in the Korean War, 47,000 in Vietnam, and 148 in the Gulf War. Including deaths from disease, accidents, and other factors, each war’s total was much higher: approximately 116,000 died in World War I, 400,000 in World War II, 53,000 in the Korean War, 90,000 in Vietnam, and almost 400 in the Gulf War.

How deadly is the American military?

It is difficult to measure how many enemy deaths American armed forces have inflicted. Americans and their allies typically cause 10 to 20 times more combat casualties than American forces suffer. Estimates of Iraqi soldiers killed in the Gulf War range from 1,500 to 100,000. The lowest figure would still be 10 times the number of Americans killed in the war. Approximately 850,000 Vietcong died in the Vietnam War, 18 times the 47,000 U.S. dead. More than 600,000 North Korean and 1 million Chinese fighters died in the Korean War, almost 50 times the 33,000 American dead. In World War II, 3,250,000 German and 1,507,000 Japanese soldiers, sailors, and pilots were killed, 16 times the 291,000 American servicemen who were killed.

How much does it cost the United States to maintain its armed forces?

How much does war cost?

How big is the military industry in the United States?

How has the size of the industry changed over time?

The 2003 level of 3.5 percent of the labor force is historically low. In 1987, toward the end of the cold war, defense (including the military) made up 5.7 percent of the U.S. labor market; in 1968, during Vietnam, 9.8 percent; in 1943, during World War II, 39 percent. After World War II, defense employment dropped to 4.5 percent, but jumped back to 11 percent in 1951 with the Korean War and the start of the cold war.

Does the military industry help make defense spending decisions?

How many weapons does the U.S. military industry export each year?

What kinds of arms does the United States export?

In 2002, U.S. manufacturers planned to export arms including Cobra and Apache attack helicopters, Black Hawk helicopters, KC-135A Stratotanker air-to-air tanker/transport aircraft, Hellfire and Hellfire II air-to-surface antiarmor missiles, Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, TOW 2A and 2B missiles, M-16 rifles, M-60 machine guns, grenade launchers, MK-82 (500 lb.) and MK-83 (1,000 lb.) bombs, Sentinel radar systems, GBU12 Paveway series laser-guided bombs, standard assault amphibious personnel vehicles, assault amphibious command vehicles, and CBU-97 sensor fused weapon antitank cluster bombs.

How many of the weapons U.S. companies export go to developing countries?

How do American arms exports affect the American people?

Arms exports are an important source of American jobs and help maintain U.S. military manufacturing capacity. They also have some negative consequences. When American weapons are used in a conflict-for example, by Israel against the Palestinians-America is also blamed for the attacks. U.S. forces regularly find themselves up against sophisticated weaponry of American origin, which is harder to defend against.

How dangerous is war for civilians?

Very dangerous. Between 1900 and 1990, 43 million soldiers died in wars. During the same period, 62 million civilians were killed. More than 34 million civilians died in World War II. One million died in North Korea. Hundreds of thousands were killed in South Korea, and 200,000 to 400,000 in Vietnam. In the wars of the 1990s, civilian deaths constituted between 75 and 90 percent of all war deaths.

What is the civilian experience in war?

They are shot, bombed, raped, starved, and driven from their homes. During World War II, 135,000 civilians died in two days in the firebombing of Dresden. A week later, in Pforzheim, Germany, 17,800 people were killed in 22 minutes. In Russia, after the three-year battle of Leningrad, only 600,000 civilians remained in a city that had held a population of 2.5 million. One million were evacuated, 100,000 were conscripted into the Red Army, and 800,000 died. In April 2003, during the Iraqi War, half of the 1.3 million civilians in Basra, Iraq, were trapped for days without food and water in temperatures in excess of 100 degrees.

How many refugees axe there?

In 2001, 40 million people were displaced from their homes because of armed conflict or human rights violations. Refugees have been a concern throughout the twentieth century. Five million Europeans were uprooted from 1919 to 1939. World War II displaced 40 million non-Germans in Europe, and 13 million Germans were expelled from countries in Eastern Europe. Approximately 2.5 million of the 4.4 million people in Bosnia and Herzegovina were driven from their homes during that region’s war in the early 1990s. More than 2 million Rwandans left their country in 1994. In 2001, 200,000 people were driven from Afghanistan to Pakistan. In early 2003, 45,000 Liberians were displaced from their homes.

What are the consequences of becoming a refugee?

Refugees have very high mortality rates, due primarily to malnutrition and infectious disease. Rwandan refugees in Zaire in 1994 had a death rate 25 to 50 times higher than prewar Rwandans. Iraqi Kurdish refugees in Turkey in 1991 had a death rate 18 times higher than usual.

How does war affect children?

More than 2 million children were killed in wars during the 1990s. Three times that number were disabled or seriously injured. Twenty million children were displaced from their homes in 2001. Many were forced into prostitution. A large percentage of those will contract AIDS. Children born to mothers who are raped or forced into prostitution often become outcasts.

How many child soldiers are there?

More than 300,000 worldwide. Soldiers are sometimes recruited at age 10 and younger. The youngest carry heavy packs, or sweep roads with brooms and branches to test for landmines. When children are hostile, the opposing army is more likely to consider every civilian a potential enemy.

Why do children join armies?

They are often forced to. Some are given alcohol or drugs, or exposed to atrocities, to desensitize them to violence. Some join to help feed or protect their families. Some are offered up by their parents in exchange for protection. Children can be fearless because they lack a clear concept of death.

How can war affect women?

Women often take on larger economic roles in wartime. They must find ways to compensate for their husband’s military deployment or unemployment. Those in war zones must search for food, water, medicine, and fuel despite shortages. Some women in war zones are forced into prostitution to provide for their family. Famine and stress cause increased stillbirth and early infant death. AIDS risk increases for many women in war, from prostitution, husbands who return from military duty with HIV, or rape.

What is genocide?

Genocide is any number of acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, according to the United Nations. Others include political and social groups in the definition, making genocide more broadly the annihilation of difference. Genocidal campaigns have become more frequent since World War I. Modern industrial weapons have made mass killings easier to commit.

How many genocides have occurred since World War I?

Dozens. The most devastating include those in the Soviet Union, where approximately 20 million were killed during Stalin’s Great Terror (1930s); Nazi Germany, where 6 million Jews were killed in concentration camps along with 5 million or more Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other «enemies of the German state» (1937-1945); Cambodia, where 1.7 million of the country’s 7 million people were killed as a result of the actions of the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979); Iraq, where 50,000 Kurds were killed during the ethnic cleansing of Anfal in 1987; Bosnia, where 310,000 Muslims were killed (1992-1995); and Rwanda, where more than 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered over ten weeks in 1994.

How is the U.S. military organized?

The U.S. military is run by the Department of Defense. It oversees the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, which are responsible for land, sea, and air fighting respectively.

Excerpted from WHAT EVERY PERSON SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WAR by CHRIS HEDGES Copyright © 2003 by Chris Hedges

Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.