The war in Ukraine claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers. As reported by the independent media "Medusa" and "Mediazona", meanwhile the dead fighters are over 120,000, and the wounded and injured are many more.
However, Russian society does not protest, but why? To ZDF, the head of the "Levada" public opinion research center Denis Volkov points out that Russians have an idea of the number of victims, but they are not discussed openly - probably only in private conversations, so they do not directly affect daily life. The expert says that the issue is still being talked about - but only the version of the rulers, which glorifies the dead fighters, is being circulated publicly. "Only this kind of public speaking is possible."
"They have to do this work, not us"
As for the lack of protests in connection with the large number of victims, Volkov tells ZDF the following: "To understand this, it should be known that the state pays quite high sums to the relatives of the soldiers. Assistance is given to families, university places are secured for their children, etc. This is of great importance to the people in the smaller outlying areas, of which a large proportion of the soldiers are. The sociologist also notes that most of the people fighting for Russia on the front in Ukraine are volunteers and professional soldiers. Respectively - in the eyes of the "normal" man it is their task, their choice. "They have to do this "job" - not us."
Volkov also shares his opinion that all this contributes to the absence of particularly strong criticism of the rulers. And people are probably relieved that there is no next mobilization wave.
For most Russians, life goes on as usual
The German public-law media is interested in whether in such a case the indifference is not related to the fact that many people in Russia are not or are not yet directly affected by the war? Volkov defines precisely this as the main reason - that most people do not participate in the war and are not affected by the mobilization. For them, the possibility of continuing to lead their lives in the usual way, without major changes, is decisive. This possibility is also decisive for the fact that the approval of the regime remains unchanged, Volkov points out and adds: "The stable economic situation also contributes to this.
But there is one more addition, which the director of "Levada" right - the number of those who are mobilized is relatively small, considering the entire population of Russia. "It helps to take things relatively more calmly."
Bilyana Mihailova (editor)