MOSCOW, 28 February 2022. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey describing the attitudes of Russians towards the special operation in Ukraine.

Sixty-eight percent of Russians are likely to support Russia’s special operation in Ukraine; every fifth respondent does not support it (22%); every tenth respondent is undecided (10%).

According to a quarter of respondents, the goals of the special operation in Ukraine are to protect the Russian-speaking population living in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics (26%); one in five report that the mission is not to allow NATO to deploy military bases in Ukraine  (20%). A similar percentage of respondents believe that the special operation is pursuing demilitarization in Ukraine (20%); 7% say that Russia seeks denazification and wants to change the political course in Ukraine; 6%, to change the political regime which is unfriendly towards Russia; 4%, to divide Ukraine into parts and establish its power in part of Ukraine.

Russian nationwide VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted February 25 and 27, 2022. A total of 1,600 of Russians aged 18 and older took part in the survey. Results are based on telephone interviews. Stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of Russian landline and mobile phone numbers was used. The data were weighted according to selection probability and 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.