MOSCOW, 3 November 2022. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey devoted to Unity Day.

There is place for a holiday as well as for unity

Seventy-one percent of Russians recognize the importance of public holidays. One-third of them are confident in that (32%), which is an eight-point increase compared to 2019 (24%). Twenty-six percent of respondents have the opposite view.

Compared to the previous year, the percentage of those who think that the Russian society is cohesive has considerably increased. Whereas in 2021 only one-third of Russians said that there was unity in Russia (31%), today this opinion is shared by 56% (+25 p.p. over a year). This is an all-time high. This figure is close to the 2015 and 2017 percentages when half of respondents also reported social cohesion (54%, each). Overall, over ten years the share of those who recognize unity has increased 2.5-fold (23% vs. 56%). In 2012 the opposite stance was dominant (“there is likely no national unity” (56%)); today 37% of respondents support this viewpoint (−19p.p. compared to ten years ago).

Positive changes are also mentioned by Russians themselves. According to every second respondent, over the recent year national unity has strengthened (49%). A quarter of respondents say it has not changed (28%); 17% say it has weakened.

Sources of cohesion

Russians think that the source of consolidation in the Russian society is the special military operation. Russians who say that national unity is present in Russia (56%) bring forward the following arguments: Western position towards Russia, conduct of the special military operation and mobilization (28%). Fifteen percent of Russians think that this is confirmed by the fact that all the nations cohabitate peacefully in Russia (15%). Certain respondents also point out Russians’ ability to get united in hard times and the majority’s support for one leader and his/her policies (9%, each). Another 8% say that national unity is rooted in the mentality, culture, education, and history.

VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted October 28, 2022. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interviews, stratified random sample based on a complete list mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. 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.

Key effectiveness indicators, October 28, 2022 survey:  cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.8258; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0200; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1375.  Calculations are based on the corporate standard: https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/

* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.

** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.

** RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.

 * In 2017 the question was as follows: “In your opinion, is it import to celebrate such holidays as People’s Unity Day, Russia’s Day, or not?”

Surveys were conducted through face-to-face household interviews (“Express” project) ; stratified multi-stage sample;  quotas based on socio-demographic parameters ; representative of the Russian population aged 18+ by settlement type, gender, age, education and federal district; Sample size: 1,600 respondents.