MOSCOW, 6 June 2022. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey on the Russian attitudes to the cancellation of Russian culture in a number of Western countries.
Amidst Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine the Western countreis are cancelling Russian culture: Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich are being removed from the programs, Russians are being dismissed from theatres, and concerts are being cancelled. Anything can be put under ban - Russian art and even Russian classical literature.
More than one-third of Russians believe that this policy, to one extent or another, can have a bad influence on the Russian culture (37%); this viewpoint is popular with Russians aged 18-24 (49%). A third of Russians consider that cultural sanctions will have no impact on the Russian culture – “nothing will change” (33%); 23% say that the Russian culture will benefit from this situation.
Every second Russian is worried about the attempts of the Western countries to exclude the Russian culture from public space (53%). They are basically women (57%); retired persons (58%) and those who prefer television over Internet (61%). Forty-three percent of Russians do not worry about the cancellation of Russian culture abroad; a quarter of respondents express no worry at all (25%).
| Culture and art employees are more likely to worry about the current situation (58%) - they say that this policy may be harmful to the Russian culture (51%). Only 12% of them believe that the situation is beneficial. Most of them consider that Russians abroad should attract public attention to the problem through mass media (39%) and raise more awareness (23%). |
Most of Russians consider that Russia should protect its rights in culture by engaging mass media (30%) and Western opinion leaders (20%), creating associations aiming to protect the Russian culture (16%), and raising awareness (14%). Least popular measures are signing petitions (9%) and filing complaints to courts (12%). Therefore, Russians believe that the cancel-culture policy can be changed through public attention and public discussion of the problem in the Western society.
Three-quarters of respondents consider that Russian retaliatory measures aiming to cancel the Western culture would not be a good response (73%). This stance is popular among Russians with higher education (80%) and residents of Moscow and St Petersburg (80%). Every fifth respondent considers that Russia should introduce sanctions against the Western culture (22%)
VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide online survey was conducted on May 28, 2022. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interviews using a stratified random sample based on a complete list of Russian mobile phone numbers. The data were weighted according to social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
May 28 2022 survey effectiveness indicators: cooperation rate (COOP1)* = 0.8387; minimum response rate (RR1)** = 0.0245; response rate (RR3)*** = 0.1292.
* The number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.
** The number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the telephone numbers where it is unknown whether the subscribers meet the selected criteria or not.
*** The number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the telephone numbers with respect to the assessment of the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of cases of unknown eligibility.
Today a number of Western countries have introduced “cultural sanctions” against Russia; concerts by Russian performers, plays by Russian play writers, exhibitions of the Russian artists are being cancelled; books by Russian classical writers are being withdrawn from sale. In your opinion, is this policy harmful to the Russian culture, or not? If so, to what extent? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |
This policy can be extremely harmful | 12 |
This policy can be harmful but not considerably | 25 |
Nothing will change | 33 |
This policy will facilitate the development of the Russian culture | 23 |
Don’t know | 6 |
Are you worried, or not, about the attempts of the Western countries to cancel Russian culture, to exclude it from public space? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | ||||||||
Total respondents | Males | Female | Ages 18–24 | Ages 25–34 | Ages 35–44 | Ages 45–59 | Ages 60 and over | |
Worried a lot | 21 | 21 | 21 | 11 | 16 | 18 | 24 | 26 |
Likely worried | 32 | 26 | 36 | 37 | 31 | 29 | 34 | 31 |
Unlikely worried | 18 | 16 | 20 | 27 | 25 | 19 | 14 | 15 |
Not at all worried | 25 | 33 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 31 | 25 | 23 |
Don’t know | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
In your opinion, should Russians and the Russian-speaking population living in the West protect their rights in culture, or not? If they should, how should they do it? Up to 2 answers are possible (closed-ended question, up to 2 answers, % of total respondents) | |
To attract attention to the problem through mass media | 30 |
To engage famous public people in culture in the West in the protection of the Russian culture | 20 |
To create associations aiming to protect the Russian culture | 16 |
To raise awareness | 14 |
To file lawsuits in Western courts | 12 |
To sign petitions, collective complaints | 9 |
Nothing should be done | 17 |
Other | 9 |
Don’t know | 12 |
In your opinion, should Russia conduct similar policies and cancel the Western culture in response to the attempts of the Western countries to cancel Russian culture, or not? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |
Russia should definitely do the same | 10 |
Likely yes | 12 |
Likely no | 27 |
Russia should not do that | 46 |
Don’t know | 5 |