Russia’s deprivation of Americans hits highest level in three decades – Gallup

Americans’ views of Russia have reached their most negative level in more than three decades, according to the latest Gallup poll, with the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending in its second year.

Russia’s preference among US respondents was 9% at the start of 2023, up from 15% last year. 90% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Russia, with 59% saying they have a “very unfavorable” view.

Gallup called it “by far the worst rating” held by Russia for at least 34 years, when the pollster first measured the Soviet Union’s favor in 1989.

Russia joins Iran, Iraq and North Korea as the fourth country with a less than 10% favor rating among Americans, Gallup said.

In contrast, Ukraine’s popularity among US respondents rose to its highest level since 2005, climbing to 68% from 62% last year.

“Very supportive” views of Ukraine more than doubled from 9% to 23% over the same period, Gallup said.

A 56% majority of Americans described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a critical threat to vital US interests, up four points from 2022.

51% hold the same view of Russia’s military might, down eight points from a year ago but still among the highest Gallup has measured since 2004.

“The decline may be related to the protracted battle with Ukraine,” Gallup said Monday. “Many military experts believed that the Russian military would overwhelm Ukraine, but it only made progress in limited parts of the country. These gains cost Russian military personnel and equipment dearly.

Gallup conducted telephone interviews between February 1 and February 23 with 1,008 adults in all 50 US states.