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Military operation in Ukraine

Poll reveals how many Russians approve of Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine

The majority of respondents believe that the goal is to protect Russia, disarm Ukraine and prevent NATO from setting up military bases on the latter's territory

MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. The approval of Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine has remained high among Russians for the past three months, with the latest poll published on Monday by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) showing 72% of Russians giving it their full support.

"The decision to conduct Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine is backed by 72% of Russian citizens, while 18% oppose it and 9% had no opinion," the pollster said in a statement, adding that this support has remained stable at a high level over three months of the monitoring.

The majority of respondents (40%) still believe that the goal is to protect Russia, disarm Ukraine and prevent NATO from setting up military bases on the latter's territory. Another 20% of those surveyed said the priority was to reform Ukraine’s political course and denazify it, while 18% of respondents said it was to protect the population of the Donetsk and the Lugansk People’s Republics. That said, 7% of those polled are buying into the claim that Russia seeks to occupy Ukraine and annex it.

"The inclination to protest has dropped by another 4 percentage points since March 2022, with a mere 14% of respondents saying protests are likely to erupt in their locations as of May 26 against 26% over a year ago," the statement reads.

The national VTsIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on February 25 and 27, on March 3, 17 and 24, on April 12 and 24, and on May 12 and 26. The maximum margin of error, with a probability of 95%, doesn’t exceed 2.5%.

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