As youth anti-war sentiment persists, Russia pushes patriotism at school
The letter Z, the symbol of Russia’s “special military operation” against Ukraine, has proliferated across the urban landscape: on billboards, windshields, public buildings, and T-shirts. Increasingly, it’s even being displayed by children at school – which the country’s conservative commentators see as key to filling what they view as troubling gaps in support for the conflict.
While polls continue to suggest that most Russians back their military, the greatest dearth of enthusiasm is among high school and university students, who “have the highest level of negativism, at 35%, toward the war and authorities among all groups of the population,” according to Lev Gudkov, head of the Levada Center, Russia’s only independent public opinion agency.
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