Page 17 - UKRRptJan22

Russians narrowly support negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, but they also overwhelmingly reject the return of annexed regions such as Crimea or Donbas, according to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Moscow-based Levada Center.
The survey suggests few Russians view themselves as on the losing side — or at least in a position where they need to give something up in order to achieve peace, the Washington Post reports.
According to the latest polling data, three-quarters of all Russians support Moscow’s “special military in Ukraine,” just six points behind the record 81% approval registered by Levada in March, shortly after the war began.
Less than a third of Russians said that the war was unsuccessful, compared to 53% who said it was successful.
Shortly after Russia invaded, polls showed Russians generally viewed the conflict as a defence of Russian speakers or others in Donbas. But Russians now seem far more uncertain of the war’s aims, with more than one out of five (22%) saying they could not describe the purpose of the war — an increase of 13% since March.
Meanwhile, the percentage of Russians who described the war as defensive dropped from 43% to 27%.
And after nine months of war and numerous setbacks for Russian forces, Russians were found to slightly favour negotiations, with five to four in favour of starting talks and a slim majority, 53%, in favour of negotiations overall.
More Russians are in favour of starting talks when reminded of the costs being inflicted upon Russia, with 62% supporting talks if they would end the deaths of Russian soldiers.
If peace talks were to take place, there was little support for concessions from Moscow among the Russian public. 78% of Russians said it would be unacceptable to return Crimea to Ukraine, while 66% said the same of the eastern Donbas region, which remains occupied by Russian forces and their Ukrainian allies.
Almost eight out of ten Russians said it would be acceptable to allow Ukraine to resume shipping grain to other countries, while nearly all favoured a reciprocal exchange of prisoners of war.
Surveys of Ukrainians show retaking of Crimea has high levels of support, with one poll from September finding that nearly nine out of ten Ukrainians believed Kyiv should not allow Russia to keep any Ukrainian territory — even if that meant prolonging the conflict.
Ukrainians are no longer afraid of rising prices and exchange rate fluctuations. In November 2022, the Consumer Sentiment Index in Ukraine was 85.2 points, which is 1.6 points higher than the October indicator. According to an Info Sapiens study, Ukrainians have become somewhat less afraid of inflation and devaluation. The current situation index increased to 44.7, which is 2.3 points higher than October’s level. November’s index of economic expectations increased by 1.1 points and is 112.2 points. The expected unemployment dynamics index decreased by 3.2 points and is 127.4 points. The inflation expectations index fell by 4.4 points and is 182.7 points. The expectations of Ukrainians regarding the hryvnia exchange rate over the next three months have improved: the devaluation expectations index has decreased by 5.9 points and is 153.6 points.
17 UKRAINE Country Report January 2023 www.intellinews.com