Russian media: Kremlin tries to find out what Russians are dissatisfied with inside the country

ALONA MAZURENKO - SATURDAY, 19 MARCH, 2022, 13:07

The Russian presidential administration is trying to figure out what exactly the country's residents are worried about right now - amid the war and sanctions - but the Kremlin does not know how to address these problems or what else might happen because of the invasion of Ukraine.

Source: Meduza sources close to the Kremlin

Details: It appears that the internal political situation in Russia is getting worse - despite the fact that the authorities are managing to suppress the anti-war movement by means of threats and repression.

The Russian presidential administration has launched a sociological survey of Russians' expectations and their fears of a deteriorating economy due to sanctions and the war in Ukraine.

The reason for conducting such studies is that the Kremlin is expecting dissatisfaction with the government's actions to grow and wants to find out which war-related difficulties Russians will perceive most painfully.

According to the source: "People are most worried about three things: the rise in unemployment, which may affect them personally; the situation with medicines and the rise in prices; as well as the devaluation of money." 

The source believes that in a few weeks or months the mood may change - for example, people will start to be more concerned about the decreasing range of products in shops.

A political technologist close to the Kremlin and familiar with the findings, says rising prices in Russia are so far perceived as a temporary problem, as is impending unemployment.

Another issue that, according to the Presidential Administration, worries Russians the most is the situation with medications.

According to the source, the problem with medications mostly concerns people "aged 50 and over". The Kremlin considers this age group to be "one of the most socially active": "Older people are a significant part of the authorities' electorate, and their frustration is very dangerous."

At the same time, the Kremlin is not convinced that the measures being taken by the Russian government will help them cope with the sanctions.

A source close to the Kremlin said: "So far, work has been rather rushed. Most of the serious decisions are on pause - political, personnel-related and economic. It is unclear where the situation with Ukraine will stop, whether new sanctions will be imposed - or whether some sanctions, by contrast, will be lifted in the event of peace. The country has never been in such a situation before. It will probably be clear in a couple of months what can be solved and what cannot."

A source close to the Russian government said that the authorities had not been prepared for such a volume of sanctions.