Fear Has Gripped Russia

Russians' anxiety levels have reached an all-time high.

The percentage of Russians who believe that a sense of anxiety prevails among their family, friends, and colleagues has reached its highest level in nearly four years, according to a poll by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM). During the week of July 24–29, this figure rose from 53% to 57%, while only 37% of respondents described the mood among those around them as calm, compared to 40% the previous week. A higher level of anxiety (70%) was recorded only in the fall of 2022—after the announcement of mobilization, writes The Moscow Times.

The figure has been rising since April. At the end of March, a calm mood prevailed over an anxious one (51% versus 40%). In a separate survey on the week’s top events, 43% of Russians mentioned the war against Ukraine. Of those, 18% spoke about attacks on Russian territory, primarily “drones in Podolsk, Domodedovo, and Chekhov” and “the explosion at the Tyumen oil refinery.” 10% highlighted the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ strikes on Wildberries warehouses. Another 8% of Russians cited fuel shortages and price hikes among the issues causing concern. However, FOM does not directly link these responses to rising anxiety.

Political analyst Ekaterina Shulman noted that the figures have approached those from the fall of 2022, despite the traditionally calm summer vacation season. “We’re heading for a record,” she wrote. Political analyst Ilya Graschenkov attributed the rise in anxiety to the fact that “the news agenda consists almost entirely of negative events.”

Over the past week, the authorities have commented at least four times on rumors of an impending new mobilization. On July 24, Andrei Kolesnik, a member of the Defense Committee, said that there was “no talk” of a new mass compulsory draft, since the ranks of contract soldiers are already being replenished. On July 27, the head of the same committee, Andrei Kartapolov, made a similar statement, and a day later, his colleague, Lieutenant General (Res.) Viktor Sobolev, did the same.

The topic of mobilization was also raised by the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev. He called such reports “nonsense,” noting that Russia’s “enemies” are attempting to destabilize the situation and provoke a rise in negative sentiment within the country. At the same time, Medvedev acknowledged a slowdown in the recruitment of contract soldiers for the war.

According to sources cited by “Versta,” Russian authorities may impose martial law and announce a mobilization following the September State Duma elections. European officials also did not rule out a mobilization in Russia, citing the high casualties suffered by Putin’s army on the front lines, which had reached 1.4 million by July.

You can support the website Charter97.org

MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNT FOR ASSISTANCE:

Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims

You can contact us by the e-mail [email protected]