In June 2025, half of the respondents followed the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Three quarters supported the actions of the Russian armed forces. At the same time, two thirds of Russians would like to start peace negotiations. Compared to last year, the proportion of people who consider the use of nuclear weapons in the current conflict to be justified has significantly decreased. More than half of the respondents today still fear that the situation could escalate into an armed clash between Russia and NATO.
After a slight increase last month, in June 2025, the level of attention to events around Ukraine decreased slightly to 53% of respondents (the sum of the responses was “very carefully” and “quite carefully”), another third of respondents (31%) followed without much attention, and 14% of respondents did not follow at all.
Men (59%), older respondents (68% among respondents aged 55 and older), those who believe that things in the country are moving in the right direction (57%), those who approve of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (56%), and those for whom television is their main source of information (66%).
Women (50%), young people under the age of 24 (67%), those who believe that things in the country are going the wrong way (50%), those who disapprove of the activities of the current president (53%), and those for whom social networks are the source of information (52%).
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[2]The level of support for the actions of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine also dropped slightly to 74% (including 42% who definitely support, and 32% who rather support). 16% do not support the actions of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine (7% definitely do not support, 9% rather do not support).
Support for the actions of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine is higher among the following groups: men (76%), older respondents (78% among respondents aged 55 and older), those who believe that the country is moving in the right direction (85%), those who approve of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (81%), and those who trust television as a source of information (84%).
The level of support for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine is lower among the following groups: women (72%), youth under 24 (62%), those who believe that things in the country are going the wrong way (49%), those who disapprove of the activities of the current president (30%), those who trusts YouTube channels as a source of information (67%).
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[4]Two-thirds of Russians believe that peace negotiations should now be initiated rather than continuing military operations (the maximum values of this indicator have been recorded for the second month in a row). A third of the respondents, 31%, are in favor of continuing military operations (as was the case a month earlier).
The proportion of supporters of peace talks is higher among women (71%), young people under 24 (77%), cities with a population of up to 100,000 (70%), those who believe that the country is on the wrong track (79%), those who disapprove of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (81%), and those who trust YouTube channels as a source of information (77%).
The share of supporters of continued military operations is higher among men (37%), older respondents (35% aged 55 and older), residents of Moscow (49%), those who believe that things in the country are going in the right direction (34%), those who approve of the activities of the current president (31%), those who trust television as a source of information (34%).
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[6]In June 2025, the share of respondents who believe that the use of nuclear weapons can be justified decreased to 24% (a decrease of 15 percentage points since November 2024). At the same time, the number of respondents who believe that the use of nuclear weapons cannot be justified has grown to 65%.
Men (29%), Muscovites (29%), those who believe that things in the country are going in the right direction (26%), and those who approve of Vladimir Putin’s activities as president are the most likely to say that the use of nuclear weapons during the current conflict in Ukraine can be justified. (26%).
Those who believe that the use of nuclear weapons in the current conflict in Ukraine cannot be justified are more likely to be those who believe that things in the country are moving in the right direction (69%) and those who disapprove of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (73%).
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[8]More than half of the respondents (56%) believe that the situation in Ukraine could escalate into an armed conflict between Russia and NATO countries. The share of such respondents increased in the summer of 2024, and remains at this level after that. A third of the respondents (31%) hold the opposite view.
More often than other respondents, those aged 40-54 (62%), residents of cities with a population of 100,000 to 500,000 (59%), those who believe that the country is on the wrong track (64%), and those who disapprove of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (64%).
Older respondents (35% of those aged 55 and older), Muscovites (45%), those who believe that the country is moving in the right direction (34%), and those who disapprove of Putin’s performance as president (31%) are more likely than other respondents to say that the situation in Ukraine cannot escalate into an armed conflict between Russia and NATO countries. and those who disapprove of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (31%).
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[10]METHODOLOGY
The survey by the Levada Center was conducted June 19 – 25 2025, among a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample consisted of 1604 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 distribution of responses is given as a percentage of the total number. The data set is weighted by gender, age, level of education for each type of settlement (large cities, medium cities, small towns, villages) within each Federal district independently, in accordance with Rosstat data.
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%
Learn more [11] about the methodology