1/15 How do you find out how Russian citizens feel about the war without asking them about the war?

2/15 We all know that opinion polls show that the vast majority of Russians support Putin's aggression against Ukraine. We've talked many times about why you can't trust these numbers: people are intimidated, they refuse to talk to sociologists, or they don't tell them the truth.

3/15 You can't trust these, but which ones can you trust? The ACF sociological service devoted its latest poll to purely economic questions, but through the prism of answers to these questions much becomes clear. Let's take a look together.

4/15 Since 2014 there has been an additional "military levy" in Ukraine - a 1.5% surcharge on income tax, which is used to modernize the Armed Forces of Ukraine. (The results of modernization are evident, the AFU in 2022 and 2014 are worlds apart).

5/15 In our poll, we are not suggesting Russians pay an additional tax; we are not suggesting they give their money away. No, we're only asking where they would direct some unspecified "additional budget revenues." And what do we see?

6/15 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, TV propaganda says: the whole world is against us, Russia is waging a holy war with the entire huge NATO bloc, which threatens to destroy all the spiritual bonds of the great Russian civilization.

7/15 Putin's propagandists call what is happening World War III, in which Russia is opposed by the whole world. But do Russians "buy" this rhetoric? Apparently not: only 7% of respondents believe that the extra money should be spent on war.

8/15 And it is clear why this is the case. The problem is the appalling poverty, the main result of the 22 years of Putin's rule. The numbers speak for themselves:

9/15 Half of our fellow citizens have no savings at all. None at all. Only 18% (less than one-fifth) have a financial cushion sufficient for calmly surviving the loss of their jobs or other sources of income. And that risk is very real:

10/15 Almost a quarter of those interviewed had lost their jobs in the last three months since the war started. This obviously does not make people feel more confident about their future. It makes them give up their plans and change their current, already very modest, way of life

11/15 Almost a third of respondents have already given up on big purchases because of the war. And you can't say that Russians could easily afford them even before the war:

12/15 80% of Russian families don't plan any large purchases this year. This is called POVERTY. That's the key word that defines Russia in 2022, and also characterizes Russians' true attitude toward the war. They do not need this war. They need a better life.

13/15 But they understand perfectly well that because of Putin's war, their lives will only keep getting worse:

14/15 The dynamic of pessimism in the expectations of ordinary people is quite impressive. In just 1 month, the number of those who expect nothing good from Russia's economic prospects under sanctions has increased by almost 10 percentage points. And it is only going to get worse

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