Answering the question: How do you feel about serving in the army on conscription? 61% of Russians choose the answer: “every real man should serve in the army.” At the same time, women choose it more often than men, and the elderly – twice as often as those who are of military age.
23% consider conscription military service to be a duty to the state, even if it does not meet personal interests. 12% are sure that it is necessary to try avoiding it. Changes compared to 2019 are within the statistical error.
How do you personally feel about serving in the army on conscription? (in %% of respondents)
|
|
Aug.97 |
July.00 |
June.10 |
Sep.14 |
Oct.15 |
May.19 |
May.21 |
|
Every real man should serve in the army |
41 |
44 |
44 |
41 |
42 |
60 |
61 |
|
Military service is a duty to the state, even if it does not meet personal interests |
28 |
24 |
30 |
41 |
40 |
24 |
23 |
|
Military service is pointless and it is necessary to try to avoid it by all means |
24 |
23 |
18 |
15 |
15 |
12 |
12 |
|
It is difficult to say |
8 |
9 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
The point of view that serving in the army is the duty of every “real man” is the most popular among respondents 55 years and older (72%). It dominates in all age groups except for Russians aged 18-24 – among them, a little more than a third (36%) think so, 42% in this group consider serving in the army a duty to the state.
Half of Russians (48%) believe that the country needs an army, partly formed on a contract basis, and partly-by conscription, a third (34%) are convinced of the need for an army only on a contract basis, 17% – on a conscription basis. The changes compared to 2019 are insignificant.
In your opinion, does Russia need an army formed on a contract basis or by conscription? (in %% of respondents)
|
|
май.19 |
май.21 |
|
There is needed an army completely on a contract basis |
31 |
34 |
|
The country needs an army, partly formed on a contract basis, and partly-by conscription |
49 |
48 |
|
Russia needs the army formed completely by conscription like in the USSR |
17 |
17 |
|
Other |
<1 |
<1 |
|
It is difficult to say |
3 |
2 |
85% of Russians believe that the army will be able to protect the country in case of a real military threat. At the same time, 50% are convinced of this, and another 31% are inclined to this option. Over the past few years, the growth of this confidence has reached 85-88% and has stabilized.
This survey was conducted May 20 – 26 2021, among a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample was comprised of 1620 people aged 18 or older in 137 municipalities of 50 regions of the Russian Federation. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as percentages of the total number of participants along with data from previous surveys.
The statistical error of these studies for a sample of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%
The ANO Levada Center has been included in the registry of non-commercial organizations acting as foreign agents.