Since the end of last year, attitudes towards China, the United States, the EU, and Ukraine have hardly changed. The majority of Russians have a positive attitude towards China, and a good attitude towards the country remains throughout the entire observation period. Slightly less than half of the respondents have a bad attitude towards the United States, and a third have a good attitude; attitudes towards the United States improved last year amid attempts to resolve the conflict with Ukraine. A predominantly negative attitude towards the EU and Ukraine has been maintained over the past 4 years.
In January 2026, the majority of respondents answered that they generally feel good about China – 83%. One in three (33%) voiced a good attitude towards the United States, one in five (21%) – towards the EU, and one in six (16%) – towards Ukraine.
[1]The vast majority of Russians have a good attitude towards China – 83% (including 27% – “very good”, and 56% – “mostly good”). Throughout all the measurements since 1995, China has been treated well. The attitude towards China has improved dramatically against the background of increased confrontation with Western countries in early 2022, and since then it has not dropped below 80%. The negative attitude towards China has been at its lowest levels in the last four years: in January 2026, only 5% of respondents had a bad attitude towards China.
Those who have the most favourable view of China are Moscow residents (93%), those who believe the country is heading in the right direction (89%), those who approve of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (86%), and those who rely on television as their source of information (86%).
Those who are most critical of China are those who believe the country is heading in the wrong direction (14%), those who disapprove of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (14%), and those who rely on YouTube channels as a source of information (8%).
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[3]Since 2014, Russians have maintained a predominantly negative attitude towards the United States, with negative attitudes peaking in January 2015 (81%) and May 2022 (75%), but in August 2025, the share of positive assessments exceeded negative assessments and briefly reached 2013 levels. By the end of 2025, the ratio of positive and negative ratings returned to the previous ratio – mostly negative, and by the beginning of 2026, the situation had hardly changed. In January 2026, 45% of respondents treated the United States badly, 33% treated it well, and another 22% of respondents found it difficult to answer.
Men (36%), young people under 25 (50%), wealthier respondents (39% among those who can afford durable goods), residents of Moscow (37%), and those who believe that things in the country are going the wrong way (36%), those for whom YouTube channels are a source of information (51%).
Older respondents (51%), less well-off respondents (51% among those who barely have enough for food), Muscovites (55%), those who believe that things in the country are going in the right direction (47%), those who use television as a source of information are worse off than others. information (50%).
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[5]Attitudes towards the European Union remain predominantly negative, although there was a slight increase in the share of positive assessments at the end of last year: more than half of respondents say they have a bad attitude – 58% (unchanged from October 2025), one in five respondents feels good about the EU – 21%, and the same number found it difficult to answer.
Women (23%), young people under 25 (35%), more affluent respondents (25% of those who can afford durable goods), and residents of Moscow (24%) have the most positive attitude towards the EU, those who believe the country is heading in the wrong direction (29%), those who disapprove of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (31%), and those for whom YouTube channels are a source of information (39%).
Men (65%), older respondents (67%), less well-off respondents (59% of those who can barely afford food), and Moscow residents (72%) have the most negative views of the EU, those who believe the country is heading in the right direction (60%), those who approve of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (60%), and those who use television as a source of information (64%).
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[7]A predominantly negative attitude towards Ukraine has persisted since the beginning of 2022, and in January 2026, two-thirds of respondents (64%) said they had a generally bad attitude. 16% of respondents have a good attitude towards Ukraine, while 20% of respondents find it difficult to answer.
Young people under the age of 25 (35%), residents of cities with a population of up to 100,000 (20%), those who believe that things in the country are going in the right direction (23%), and those who disapprove of Putin’s activities are better than others. Putin’s presidency (28%), those who use YouTube channels as a source of information (30%).
Older respondents (67%), residents of Moscow (73%), those who believe the country is heading in the right direction (70%), those who approve of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (68%), and those who rely on television as their source of information (71%) have the most negative views of Ukraine.
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[9]METHODOLOGY
The survey by the Levada Center was conducted January 15 – January 23 2026, among a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample consisted of 1617 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 [10] about the methodology