One is peddled by the best-known talk-show hosts who tell viewers that the “special operation” is part of Russia’s total and existential war with the West—which is, of course, hell-bent on obliterating Russia. This apocalyptic narrative sets up Ukraine as the site of this great battle. https://euronewstop.co.uk/how-many-russian-soldiers-have-died.html , prevalent on news programmes, emphasises that the “special military operation” in Ukraine is being conducted by professionals to liberate the Russian people of Donbas and other regions. True Russian cyberwarfare capabilities have proved something of a damp squib in Ukraine. On the sixth day of the war in Ukraine, there have been more than 6,000 arrests at anti-war protests across Russia. Russia's defence ministry has denied attacking Ukrainian cities - saying it was targeting military infrastructure, air defence and air forces with high-precision weapons. War is a different matter altogether, though; in recent days, Russia has not seen any of the jubilation that accompanied the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The day before the start of the war, Putin told the nation of WWII-era promises not to expand NATO eastward and said those promises had been broken five times. Ukraine's flirtation with NATO membership pushed those fears into overdrive. What do Russians make of their country’s invasion of Ukraine? It is no easy matter to conduct opinion polls in Russia at the best of times, sampling views from St Petersburg to Siberia. Can central banks fight climate change? A Northeastern researcher explains role in promoting sustainable financial practices We are worried about what's happening because it is so close to us. But also we are not completely sure what happened, she adds. We don't really believe the news we see on TV. A woman in a pink coat and hat also refers to Russians in Ukraine. Asked if he and his friends were scared to come to the rally, he said, No. This is not frightening. What is happening in Ukraine and its borders is frightening. What we have here now is nothing. Some of those against the invasion have gathered in Pushkin square in the centre of Moscow to protest. That is because its most avid proponents, and its most intractable opponents, will not change their minds. The first, a blitzkrieg to capture Kyiv, failed within the first month. The second, the seemingly inevitable offensive, stalled in the summer and was abandoned in early September following the success of Ukraine’s counter-offensive. In the third version, the Russian motherland has been declared in danger and hundreds of thousands of men are being drafted to fight. BBC News Services Volkov says these polls are conducted face-to-face, and people are assured of anonymity. Still, he notes, the survey results reveal at least as much about what people are willing to say in public than about how they truly feel. We must understand that polls show us not what people really think or really believe, but what they want to share, he says. Volkov found that some 80% of respondents do support the military, but that group is by no means a monolith. He says about 50% have definite support without any qualms, but the other 30% have support with reservations. This is what people have been expecting, they have been waiting for, but no-one here can quite believe it's actually happening. People were out on the streets last night in this city - they were waving the Ukrainian flag. They said this was their land. They were going nowhere, she reported. Many people in Kyiv have sought shelter in underground metro stations. There were long queues at petrol stations and cash machines. Social media testimonies speak to a growing sense of panic, with some saying they are being rushed into bomb shelters and into basements. After such colossal losses, the army will have to be rebuilt again. This man has a certain political style, to which most of the Russian population is already accustomed. He is not a bright leader, and not the tyrant that the opposition paints him as, but he is definitely not the best thing that could happen to Russia. “At the beginning, I took a favourable position [of the campaign], because even before February 24, I considered it necessary to eliminate the Ukrainian problem. But now time has passed, it’s become obvious that no positive outcomes are to be expected. It seemed to me that all this was not real and could not last long. I can do without access to the blocked social media platforms. There are some prominent Russians who are willing to speak out against the invasion of Ukraine. After graduating from the University of Liverpool he wrote for a number of British publications before joining AS USA in 2020. 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.
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