81% a Russians support the war in Ukraine, independent pollster finds

[darosky]

Questions that New York times didn't address:

Did the pollster use the word war or "special military operations"? It is illegal to call it a war in Russia.

How many respondents were afraid of answering that they opposed the war, in light of the new laws making it a crime to "discredit" the military, and several other oppressive laws?

div class="excerpt"]The public’s endorsement of the war lacks the patriotic groundswell that greeted the annexation of Crimea in 2014. But polls released this week by Russia’s most respected independent pollster, Levada, showed Mr. Putin’s approval rating hitting 83 percent, up from 69 percent in January. Eighty-one percent said they supported the war, describing the need to protect Russian speakers as its primary justification.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/01/world/europe/russia-putin-support-ukraine.html

[getagrip_already]

1. yeah, right.....

all phone calls and web traffic in russia are monitored. Nobody is going to feel comfortable answering a poll, either in person or by phone.

Web polls are wildy inaccurate even in the best of times, and they would need to use a vpn to a valid site.

[Igel]

4. Dunno.

(10 all phone calls

That takes a lot of people. Not likely. All's that's necessary is for any individual to fear that *their* call is monitored.

(2) web traffic in russia are monitored.

Easier, but still ...

(3) Nobody is going to feel comfortable answering a poll, either in person or by phone.

More valid. Levada Center says it's the Levada Center ... prove it.

Levada Center is pretty much independent. It's reported approval ratings over 70% Putin with the "gut feeling" that the number's right.

I see no reason to doubt the overall accuracy of the poll.

Ксати, я не русский. Читаю свободно.

[getagrip_already]

5. It doesn't take people to monitor calls....

Just computers and software. The us monitors millions of calls internationally using computerized algorithms.

The convert speech to text, and then look for keywords, patterns, and conditional variables.

If alerted, they can be reviewed by people.

And of course anything sent digitally can be intercepted. For example, Russia is known to have broken whatsapp and can read any messages sent or received.

They aren't broadly competent, but they have invested in controlling their own people.

But what matters most is that the Russian people are paranoid and suspicious, and that will influence any poll.

[AlexSFCA]

2. no surprise overwhelming majority of russians supported invasion in Crimea

[uponit7771]

3. At best its flag rally even US supported Iraq war 2 by 72% during initial weeks of war (link)

Everyone wants their team to win

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/rally-round-the-flag-opinion-in-the-united-states-before-and-after-the-iraq-war/

[ProfessorGAC]

6. "Most Respected Independent Pollster"

Yeah, like i believe there is such a thing in Russia.

[Amishman]

7. When there is no freedom of speech, no poll can be accurate

They know that their answers could have consequences