Many assumed average Russians would sour on war in Ukraine. That hasn't happened
Some who didn't initially support the war now want to see Russia win, researchers found
At the end of November, four students dressed in military uniforms from Moscow's Higher School of Economics, a prestigious and traditionally liberal leaning university, arrived in the city of Nizhny Novgorod with a special care package for Russian troops.
They were handing over three drones, and other accessories from the school's White Raven student group, a pro-military association which was created one month after Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine.
"When you feel that you and your government and your country are standing for one mission, then you will achieve success," Maksim Lukianenko, one of White Raven's co-founders, said in an interview with CBC News.
The 20-year-old who studies cross-cultural communication admits the group has sparked protests on campus, but insists the controversy has only driven more students to join its ranks and take part in the sporting events and fundraisers they organize.
'New patriots'
Nearly a year and a half into the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin maintains the country is more united than ever. A group of Russian researchers say they are seeing an increase in patriotism among citizens who might have disagreed with the war in the beginning but support the country's military because they want it to emerge victorious.
Despite a counteroffensive launched by Ukraine and what some have called an attempted coup against Putin by the Wagner mercenary outfit, the research suggests that patriotism is actually increasing among ordinary Russians.
The study was conducted by researchers with the Public Sociology Lab, which includes academics from various universities along with independent researchers who study Russian politics and society.
Part of their findings included identifying a group they have dubbed "new patriots," who are rooting for Russia and in some cases justifying the war, even if they didn't initially agree with it.
"They do not really believe that Russia's victory will bring real positive change in Russian society, they just feel that if Russia loses, it will be much, much worse," said Svetlana Erpyleva, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bremen in Germany.
Erpyleva said the goal was to gauge the attitudes of regular Russians, who were often hesitant to engage with the researchers and frequently turned their video off during the interviews, which lasted between an hour and a half and two hours.
"It's kind of like talking to a priest. You talk to a black screen, and it feels really safe and anonymous," Erpyleva said.
'Ordinary Russians'
Erpyleva said it was a challenge to find their respondents because they wanted to speak to "ordinary Russians," and those who initially replied to their advertisements on social media were either vocal opponents of the war or strong supporters of it.
Instead, they used their own social networks to reach out to former classmates and friends of friends to eventually find enough people with more nuanced views to participate.
During the second round of interviews, they spoke with 88 people, including 40 whom they spoke to earlier, at the start of the war. While it isn't a large enough sample size to fully represent public opinion, the research offers a window into the attitudes of average Russian citizens.
Erpyleva said researchers assumed that after the mobilization some would shift to being firmly against the war, but no one in the group expressed that perspective.
Instead, she said, their views were "inconsistent." They didn't like the mobilization but still supported Putin and what the government is doing.
Erpyleva said among those who have embraced a stronger sense of patriotism since last year, some said that while they aren't getting the full truth about the conflict, they would rather support Russia than a country it is fighting.
Others said they feel average Russians are being blamed and mistreated for something they feel they have no control over, and that's shifted some opinion around the conflict.
"I didn't really agree with what's going on in the beginning," said Maria Gritsenko, a second-year sociology student at the Russian State University for the Humanities.
Gritsenko, who spoke to CBC news via Zoom from her apartment in Moscow, says she has become more patriotic in the past year after reading what she calls hateful comments online directed at Russians.
She pointed to a story that circulated online last month about a 23-year-old Russian man who was eaten by a shark while swimming off the coast of Egypt.
In response, a petition was posted online that called for a monument to the shark for its commitment to fighting against the Russians.
"I know lots of people, and I see lots of people on the internet who are saying, 'Well, I used to support Ukraine, but I see that they truly hate us,'" Gritsenko said.
A sense of 'duty'
Gritsenko, 21, said while she doesn't have "blind support" for the Russian government, she believes that as an Orthodox Christian, she has a responsibility to do her part and help those in need, including Russian soldiers.
She is head of a campus association that oversees a number of student groups including a patriotic society that was created three years ago.
Before the invasion, she said, the society's members would hold lectures on Russian culture, volunteer and organize blood drives. But now, they are more active, and many of their events are geared to helping those connected to what Russian officials call the "special military operation."
While they don't raise funds for weapons, she said her group did assist a soldier who asked for a helmet and other protective gear.
She said they have also provided humanitarian aid to people who fled from Ukraine's occupied territories to Russia.
"I see people who maybe do not fully agree on what's going on, but they still agree that they should kind of unite and do some stuff that is right or helpful."
That is a message Lukianenko trumpets on his campus.
Members of his White Raven group frequently wear camouflage and other military attire, but he insists that isn't a requirement and his group isn't militaristic.
Instead he said it's about bringing people together to build the "perfect Russia of the future."
He spoke to CBC news a few days after Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin launched a rebellion against Russia's military leaders, but said he doubts it will erode Putin's popularity.
In contrast, he believes that people's trust in Putin is actually growing.
When asked about those who oppose his group and instead call for young people to protest the war, he dismisses that suggestion.
"The situation with all this protest will be even worse," he said. "Better to consolidate with the government and simply to feel united."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Corinne Seminoff and Reuters