New research has highlighted Russians are increasingly feeling the pinch and seeing a more gloomy future amid the fallout from the Ukraine invasion – but parts of the population apparently remain resolute.
The Open Minds Insitute (OMI), a research hub focused on disinformation and propaganda, found in a recent poll that around 80% of Russians were worried about their financial wellbeing.This figure was a noticeable 30-point jump since the question was last asked in May.
In a statement sent to Euronews on Monday, OMI founder and CEO Sviatoslav Hnizdovskyi said the rise "might indicate a trend where refrigerator reality beats TV propaganda, potentially leading to increased dissatisfaction among the Russian population if it continues."Handling an angry and hungry crowd could be tougher than dealing with a small group of protesters who oppose the government's actions on moral grounds," he wrote, "just as it was in [the Russian Revolution of] 1917, when lack of bread and other food shortages, combined with failures at the frontlines, played one of the critical roles in social unrest."Only half of those surveyed by OMI "believe that the average citizen has all the means to live a good life in Russia," he added.
However, researchers at the institute – which works in partnership with five universities from the US and UK – noted that Russians' views of their daily challenges and the future were influenced by their wider political beliefs.The research split the Russian population into four distinct groups based on their attitudes towards the status quo: Hawks, Loyalists, Moderates and Liberals.Exactly 84% of respondents wanted to stay in Russia, but 53% of what it called "Liberals" wished to move abroad.Just over three-quarters of