Just one in four people are now in favour of keeping Moscow’s troops in Ukraine, down from 57 per cent in July

By Natalia Vasilyeva, RUSSIA CORRESPONDENT 30 November 2022 •

Support for the war in Ukraine has fallen dramatically in Russia, according to a leaked Kremlin poll that piles further pressure on Vladimir Putin.

Just one in four people are now in favour of keeping Russian troops in Ukraine, down from 57 per cent in July.

The findings were published in a report for senior government officials by the Kremlin’s Federal Guard Service, which was obtained by Meduza, an independent investigative news website.

The drop in support comes after Russia ordered tens of thousands of men to be mobilised and sent to the front lines. Mr Putin attempted to calm rising anger last week with a public meeting with the wives of soldiers.

Attrition levels remain high on the front lines as reports continue to surface of poor training and equipment for recently mobilised Russian conscripts.

“People perceived this as something that did not concern them. Now the risks have grown and people want [peace] talks to begin,” said Denis Volkov, the head of the Levada Centre, in response to the falling support among the public.

Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, told a televised meeting on Wednesday that military spending on new weapons will rise by 50 per cent starting next year.

Weapons and ammunition factories across the country that have reportedly been working overtime to meet up the growing needs of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

On the battlefield in Ukraine, Russian soldiers have reportedly been fooled by Ukrainian troops into wasting ammunition on fake targets as the Ukrainians have been using dummy HIMARS rocket launchers among other things, according to a recent analysis by the Royal United Services Institute.

Mr Shoigu also said on Wednesday that Russia plans “major construction” at military bases hosting Russian nuclear missiles, including work to accommodate Russia’s newest nuclear-capable weapons.

Meanwhile, desperate Ukrainians are grappling with the aftermath of recent Russian missile attacks that left towns and villages without electricity or heating.

Ukraine’s state emergency service said on Wednesday at least nine people have been reported dead in fires in the past 24 hours as Ukrainians have been ignoring safety rules, trying to heat their homes amid widespread blackouts.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Ukrainian government found itself arguing with the EU’s top official as she claimed in a speech that at least 100,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion.

Ursula von der Leyen’s remarks on Wednesday suggested that at least 20,000 Ukrainian civilians and 100,000 troops have been killed in the ongoing war, the highest number than any Ukrainian official has cited so far. Previous estimates for the Ukrainian death toll were in five, not six-digit figures.

Several hours later, the transcript of Ms von der Leyen’s speech and video remarks posted on Twitter were edited to delete any mention of Ukrainian casualties.

An European Commission spokeswoman later described the incident as a misunderstanding.

“The estimation used, from external sources, should have referred to casualties, i.e. both killed and injured, and was meant to show Russia’s brutality,” Dana Spinant, the EU Commission’s deputy spokesman, tweeted.

Ukrainians have been cautious not to give updates on its military death toll so as not to demoralise the Ukrainian public.

President Volodymyr Zelensky at the height of the fighting in eastern Ukraine this summer said up to 200 Ukrainian soldiers were dying every day on the battlefield.

Mr Zelensky’s office on Wednesday expressed dismay over the EU chief’s remarks.

Serhiy Nikiforov told Ukrainian public television that death toll figures are “sensitive” and that it is only up to the president, the defence minister or the commander-in-chief to give official updates on it.

The Foreign Office on Wednesday added 22 Russian nationals to its sanctions list for promoting and enforcing the Kremlin’s efforts to mobilise at least 300,000 men to fight in the war in Ukraine.

“The Russian regime’s decision to partially mobilise Russian citizens was a desperate attempt to overwhelm the valiant Ukrainians defending their territory,” James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, said, pledging more “sanctions and military aid to support Ukraine in the defence of its independence.”

Among the sanctioned individuals are a deputy prime minister in charge of weapons production and the head of Russia’s penitentiary service that allowed the private military contractor Wagner to recruit men in Russian prisons.