Almost two thirds of the respondents say they are not worried about Western sanctions. At the same time, the freezing of Russian assets abroad is of particular concern. The majority of respondents believe that the sanctions have not created any problems for them personally. Against this background, there is growing confidence that the sanctions are directed against the Russian leadership, and not the general population. The prevailing opinion in society is that with the help of sanctions, Western countries seek primarily to weaken Russia. At the same time, more than half of the respondents are of the opinion that Western sanctions will strengthen our country and become an incentive for its development. The majority of respondents believe that Russia should continue its policy despite the sanctions.

Since March 2022, concerns about political and economic sanctions by Western countries have continued to decrease. By February 2025, concern had dropped to 26% (a decrease of 20 percentage points). 72% of respondents say that Western sanctions do not cause concern (an increase of 19 percentage points since March 2022).

The level of concern about Western sanctions is higher among the following groups: older respondents (31% among respondents aged 55 and older), less affluent respondents (33% among those who barely have enough to eat), those who disapprove of the activities of the current president (38%), those who trust YouTube channels as a source of information (42%), those whose family’s financial situation has worsened over the past year (33%), those who note that Western sanctions have created problems for them personally or their family (70%).

The level of concern about Western sanctions is lower among young people under 24 (14%), those who approve of V. Putin’s activity as president (29%), those who trust Telegram channels as a source of information (22%), those whose family’s financial situation has remained unchanged over the last year (22%), those who say that Western sanctions have not caused any problems for them or their family (20%).

The respondents are most concerned about the freezing of part of the gold and foreign exchange reserves, state property of the Russian Federation abroad – 47% (note that this share has decreased by 7 percentage points since May 2024). A quarter of respondents (25%) are concerned about the cancellation of Russian cultural events abroad and the dismissal of Russian artists from foreign theaters. One in five (20%) is concerned about the departure of a number of Western companies from Russia (a gradual decrease of 7 percentage points since March 2022), as well as the departure of Visa and Mastercard, the inability to pay with Russian cards abroad – 20% (a gradual decrease of 5 percentage points since March 2022). 18% say they are concerned about restrictions on flights to Western countries for Russian airlines, while 6% are more or less concerned about personal sanctions against major Russian businessmen.

The majority of respondents (86%) say that the sanctions have not created problems for them personally or their family. 12% of respondents claim the opposite.

The respondents who believe that the sanctions have not caused problems for them and their families are more often than others the better-off (87% among those who can afford durable goods), the inhabitants of villages (90%), those who believe that things in the country are going in the right direction (90%), those who approve of V. Putin’s activity as president (88%), those who trust television as a source of information (88%), those whose family’s financial situation has improved over the past year (90%).

More often than others, they say that the sanctions have created problems for them personally and their families, less well-off respondents (15% of those who barely have enough to eat), residents of Moscow (16%), those who believe that things in the country are moving along the wrong path (25%), those who do not Those who approve of the current president’s activities (33%), those who trust YouTube channels as a source of information (31%), and those whose family’s financial situation has worsened over the past year (23%).

There is no clear opinion in Russian society on who is really affected by the current sanctions of Western countries. Equal shares of respondents believe that sanctions affect only a narrow circle of people responsible for Russian policy towards Ukraine (44%, an increase of 16 percentage points since May 2022) and the general population of Russia (45%, a decrease of 22 percentage points since May 2022).

The share of respondents who believe that Western sanctions affect only a narrow circle of people responsible for Russian policy towards Ukraine is higher among older respondents (46% among respondents aged 55 and older), rural residents (51%), those who believe that things in the country are going in the right direction (48%), those who approve of V. Putin’s activities as president (45%), those who say that they personally or their family have not been affected by Western sanctions (49%), those who are not concerned about Western sanctions (52%). Putin’s performance as president (45%), those who say that Western sanctions have not caused problems for them or their family (49%), those who are not concerned about Western sanctions (52%).

The share of respondents who believe that Western sanctions affect broad segments of the Russian population is higher among young people under 24 (58%), those who believe that the country is on the wrong track (57%), those who disapprove of V. Putin’s performance as president (54%), those whose family’s financial situation has worsened over the past year (53%), those who say that Western sanctions have caused problems for them or their family (84%), and those who are concerned about Western sanctions (71%).

The prevailing opinion in society is that Western countries, by tightening sanctions against Russia, primarily seek to weaken and humiliate Russia. 9% of respondents believe that sanctions are aimed at restoring geopolitical balance, while 8% believe that they are trying to stop military operations, destruction, and deaths in eastern Ukraine.

Older respondents (81% among respondents aged 55 and older), those who believe that things are going in the right direction in the country (78%), those who approve of V. Putin’s activity as president (77%), those who trust television as a source of information (78%), those who think that military actions should be continued now (87%), and those who support Russian military actions (87%). Putin’s performance as president (77%), those who trust television as a source of information (78%), those who believe that military action should continue now (87%), those who support the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine (80%), and those who have a bad attitude toward the United States (81%).

They are more likely to believe that Western countries are restoring geopolitical balance in this way and stopping military operations, destruction, and death of people, young people under 24 (15% and 13%, respectively), those who believe that things in the country are going the wrong way (10% and 18%), those who disapprove the activities of the current president (14% and 23%), those who trust YouTube channels as a source of information (16% and 17%), those who believe that peace negotiations should begin now (11% and 12%), those who do not support the actions of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine (13% and 25%), those who feel good about America (10% and 15%).

More than half of the respondents (56%) are of the opinion that Western sanctions will strengthen our country and become an incentive for its development (a slight decrease of 6 percentage points from the last measurement). Since May 2024, the share of respondents who believe that sanctions will cause significant damage to our country has increased (up to 15%, by 6 percentage points). 22% of respondents believe that sanctions will not affect the development of the country in any way.

Since the beginning of the measurements on this issue, the majority of respondents believe that Russia should continue its policy in response to Western sanctions, in February 2025 this share was 77%. 15% of respondents think that Russia should seek a compromise and make concessions in order to escape from sanctions.

The opinion that Russia should continue its policy in response to Western sanctions is more widespread among older respondents (80%), those who believe that things in the country are going in the right direction (85%), those who approve of V. Putin’s activities as president (81%), those who trust television as a source of information (82%), those who believe that it is necessary to continue military actions (92%), and those who support the actions of Vladimir Putin as president. Putin’s performance as president (81%), those who trust television as a source of information (82%), those who believe that military actions should be continued (92%), those who support the actions of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine (83%), and those who have a bad attitude towards the USA (83%).

The opinion that Russia, in response to Western sanctions, should seek a compromise and make concessions in order to escape from sanctions is more common among young people under 24 (26%), those who believe that things in the country are going the wrong way (34%), those who disapprove the activities of the current president (37%), those who trust YouTube channels as a source of information (24%), those who believe that peace negotiations should begin now (22%), those who do not support the actions of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine (36%), as well as those who treats the USA well (23%).