Support for President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has fallen to its lowest level inside Russia since the war began in February 2022, according to a new survey by the independent Levada Center.
The poll, published this week, found 66% of respondents favor peace negotiations to end the fighting — the highest share calling for talks since the start of the conflict. Just 27% of those surveyed said the fighting should continue, a record low for support of a prolonged campaign.
The survey also documented growing pessimism among Russians about the war’s trajectory. Only 36% of respondents said they believed the war would end within a year, while 39% expected it to last longer — a seven percentage point rise in those expecting a protracted conflict since January. Men and older Russians were more likely than women and younger respondents to support continuation of the fighting, Levada found.
More than half of those polled said the war had affected them directly: about 30% reported that a loved one had been killed in the conflict, and roughly 20% said they were struggling emotionally because of the war.
A Kremlin spokesperson said Friday that peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were “on pause,” and criticized European proposals to provide post-war security guarantees to Kyiv as a potential dealbreaker. The spokesperson’s comments suggest formal talks are not imminent, even as public appetite for negotiations inside Russia has risen.
Levada, which is regarded as one of the few independent polling organizations operating in Russia, framed the findings as the weakest recorded domestic support for the war since the February 2022 escalation to a full-scale invasion. The center’s questionnaires have tracked public sentiment on the conflict across multiple surveys, making the latest results notable for both the scale of support for negotiations and the fall in backing for a continued campaign.
The results add to a stream of data indicating increased war weariness in Russia as the conflict moves into its fourth year. They also coincide with other indicators of strain inside Russia, including rising reports of personal losses and emotional hardship among the population. The Levada Center’s findings come as Kyiv and its Western partners continue to press for support while also seeking security arrangements for Ukraine should a negotiated settlement be reached.
The survey did not forecast political consequences or predict policy moves by the Kremlin, and Levada’s data reflect public attitudes at the time of polling. Kremlin statements about negotiations and European security proposals point to diplomatic tensions that remain unresolved even as domestic support for ending the fighting grows.