Two thirds of the respondents are not concerned about Western sanctions against Russia, the proportion of those who are concerned about sanctions has increased slightly over the year. At the same time, according to the majority of respondents, the sanctions have not created serious problems for their families, this indicator has not changed in recent years. More than half of the respondents believe that sanctions will boost development for Russia, but the proportion of such responses is gradually decreasing. At the same time, the majority of respondents are of the opinion that Russia should continue its foreign policy despite the sanctions.

In January 2026, the level of concern about the political and economic sanctions of Western countries increased to 35% (an increase of 9 percentage points since February 2025).  The share of respondents who are concerned about sanctions rose sharply in the spring of 2022 (to 46% in March), and then gradually decreased. Two thirds of the respondents (63%) are not concerned about Western sanctions, and their share has decreased by 9 percentage points over the past year.

Respondents most worried by the political and economic sanctions are women (37%), older respondents (43% of those aged 55 and over), respondents with a higher education (40%), less affluent respondents (40%), residents of cities with a population of over 500,000 (37%), those who disapprove of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (52%), those who use YouTube channels as sources of information (42%), those for whom the sanctions have personally caused problems (75%), and those who believe that the sanctions are causing significant damage to the country (63%).

Those who are less concerned about political and economic sanctions imposed by Western countries include men (67%), young people under 25 (72%), respondents with secondary education or below (68%), more affluent respondents (66% of those who can afford durable goods), Moscow residents (68%),  those who approve of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (65%), those who use social media and Telegram channels as sources of information (66% each), those for whom the sanctions have not personally caused any problems (79%), and those who believe that the sanctions have no impact on the country’s development (78%).

At the same time, the majority of respondents (87%) say that Western sanctions have not created serious problems for them personally and their families, the share of such respondents also decreased in the spring of 2022 (to 69%), after which it returned to the indicators of 2020. The share of those for whom Western sanctions have created problems has remained virtually unchanged since the summer of 2023 – 11% of respondents.

The proportion of those for whom Western sanctions have not caused any serious problems is higher among young people under 25 y.o. (95%), more affluent respondents (91% of those who can afford durable goods), those who believe the country is moving in the right direction (92%), those who approve of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (89%), and those who use television as a source of information (90%).

The proportion of those for whom Western sanctions have caused serious problems is higher among respondents aged 25–39 y.o. (13%), less well-off respondents (17% of those who can barely afford food), those who believe the country is moving in the wrong direction (23%), those who disapprove of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (26%), and those who use YouTube channels as a source of information (17%).

About half of the respondents believe that sanctions will strengthen the country and become an incentive for its further development – 53%, however, the share of such respondents has decreased by 9 percentage points since May 2024. A fifth of the respondents believe that sanctions will not affect the country’s development in any way (20%) and the same number (19%) are of the opinion that they cause significant damage to the country, their share has increased by 10 percentage points since May 2024.

Those who believe that sanctions will strengthen the country and act as a stimulus for its development are most commonly found among older respondents (60% of those aged 55 and over), residents of Moscow (62%),  those who approve of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (58%), those who use television as a source of information (59%), those who are not concerned about sanctions (57%), and those for whom sanctions have not caused any problems (58%).

Young people under the age of 25 y.o. (32%), those who are not concerned about sanctions (25%), and those for whom sanctions have not created problems (22%) are more likely to believe that sanctions will not affect Russia’s development in any way.

There groups more likely to believe that sanctions are causing significant damage to the country are: respondents aged 25-39 y.o. (24%), residents of cities with a population of more than 500 ths (24%), those who believe that things in the country are going the wrong way (37%), and those who disapprove of the current president’s activities (45%), those who use YouTube channels as a source of information (34%), those who are concerned about sanctions (35%), those for whom sanctions have created problems (59%).

The majority of respondents (73%) believe that in response to Western sanctions, Russia should continue its policy despite the sanctions, but their share has decreased by 5 percentage points since May 2024. At the same time, the share of those respondents who believe that Russia needs to seek a compromise and make concessions in order to leave is slowly growing. from sanctions – up to 18% (an increase of 4 percentage points since May 2024).

The groups are more likely to believe that Russia should continue its policy in response to Western sanctions are: older respondents (78% of respondents aged 55 and older), Moscow residents (81%), those who approve of Putin’s activities as president (79%), those for whom television is a source of information (80%), those who are not concerned about sanctions (78%), those for whom personally and whose families sanctions have not created problems (76%), those who believe that sanctions strengthen the country (88%).

The groups most likely to believe that Russia should seek compromise and make concessions in response to Western sanctions are: young people under 25 (38%), those who disapprove of Vladimir Putin’s performance as president (43%), and those who rely on YouTube channels as a source of information (32%), those concerned about the sanctions (25%), those for whom the sanctions have personally caused problems (34%), and those who believe the sanctions are causing significant harm to the country (46%).