Russians have begun to rate the course of the war against Ukraine worse

The share of Russians who consider Russia's war against Ukraine successful has fallen to 50%. This is the lowest figure since the start of the full-scale invasion, according to the results of a July survey by the Levada Center.

Over the past year, the share of those positively assessing the course of the war has decreased by 19 percentage points. In July 2025, 69% of survey participants held this position.

At the same time, the share of Russians who consider Russia's actions in Ukraine unsuccessful has grown to 28%. Over the year, this indicator increased by 11 percentage points.

Another 22% of respondents were unable to assess the course of the war. According to sociologists, the share of those who found it difficult to answer reached a maximum over the entire observation period.

The advance of Russia's so-called "special military operation" was more often called successful by men, people over 55, Moscow residents, affluent respondents, supporters of Vladimir Putin, and television audiences.

Negative assessments were more often given by Russians aged 40 to 54, low-income citizens, opponents of the current president, and YouTube users. Among those who do not approve of Putin's work, 61% of respondents called the war unsuccessful.

Despite the decline in success ratings, 66% of respondents continue to support the actions of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine. 23% of survey participants do not support them.

62% of Russians supported a transition to peace talks, while 28% supported the continuation of military action. Compared with June, the share of supporters of negotiations decreased by two percentage points.

At the same time, 56% of respondents said that Russia should intensify strikes on Ukraine. Possible concessions to Kyiv and Western countries for the sake of a peace agreement were supported by 25% of those surveyed.

Responsibility for the lack of a peace settlement was most often placed on Europe by Russians — 32% answered this way. Ukraine was named responsible by 20%, the US by 19%, and Russia by 10% of the study participants.

The survey was conducted from July 21 to 28, 2026 among 1612 adult residents of 137 settlements in 50 regions of Russia. The statistical margin of error for indicators close to 50% does not exceed 3.4 percentage points.

Based on materials from: Levada Center