IKAR presented a study of the dynamics of Russian society's attitude to war in 2023 in the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania

On October 9, 2023, the international conference titled "Attitudes of Russian Society Towards War: Sociological Trends within the Russian Federation" took place in the Constitution Hall of the Seimas of Lithuania.

The conference was attended by European politicians, including: • Evaldas Sinkevičius, Head of Office of the Committee on National Security and Defence of the Seimas of the Republic Lithuania; • Dovilė Šakalienė, Member of National Security and Defense Committee of the Seimas of the Republic Lithuania

The event was also attended by ambassadors, military attaches of the embassies of Romania, Poland, France, Estonia, Japan, Sweden, and the Czech Republic, as well as representatives of European universities and research organizations.

Oleksandr Shulga, Director of the Institute for Conflict Studies and Analysis of Russia (IKAR), was the keynote speaker at the event. He presented the findings of a study conducted on Russian society over the first ten months of 2023

As can be seen from Oleksandr's speech, after seven waves of sociological monitoring “The Mirror of Russia”conducted by the Institute for Conflict Studies and Analysis of Russia during the past 10 months, we can observe both an evolution of Russian public consciousness and stable trends within it. These changes and trends are crucial not only for the end of the active phase of the Russo-Ukrainian war, but also for the emergence of new conflicts and wars of aggression waged by the Russian Federation. In the first part of his presentation, Dr. Oleksandr Shulga focused on the evolution of attitudes and the general perceptions of Russian society associated with the crucial problems regarding this war. After that he analyzed what remained unchanged because of its being deeply ingrained in the Russian public consciousness, moreover, being a part of their natural attitude, which means what things are usually just taken for granted – rather than subject to critical analysis and doubt, that is the ‘common-sense' thinking of Russian society.

During the discussion of the presented sociological data the participants paid special attention to the "routinization of war" and its "de-virtualization" for Russian society

Concluding the event, Deauville Shakaliene, a member of the National Security and Defense Committee of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, expressed her gratitude to the participants for their active engagement in the discussion. She underscored the importance of the ICAR study's results in comprehending the ongoing processes within Russian society and shaping the future defense policy of the European Union.