Siberian TV Poll Shows 59% Of Respondents Want Peace In Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin is apparently facing a popular revolt for his invasion of Ukraine, with no less than 59% percent of respondents polled by Siberian TV saying that they want peace in Ukraine, John Varga reported for UK’s Daily Express early on June 23, 2022.

Photo Insert: A substantial majority, 59 percent, voted for peace, while 41 percent opposed the cessation of hostilities.

The shift in public opinion comes as the Kremlin struggles to rebuild its front-line units after suffering major casualties in its military assault. According to the Ukrainian army's most recent battlefield update, 39,000 Russians have been killed in action since hostilities began in late February.

US defense officials estimate that 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, while UK intelligence estimates that 25,000 Russian soldiers have died. To put the various figures in context, around 15,000 Soviet soldiers died throughout the 10-year occupation of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan serves as a clear message to Russia's struggling leader, who appears to be losing public support for his current military endeavor, according to Varga. The breakdown of Soviet public support for the Afghan war pushed then-USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev to withdraw his troops.

Some historians believe this episode contributed to the Soviet regime's demise.

After the first substantial indicators of public outrage at the war were revealed in a recent poll, history may be set to repeat itself. During a live news show, the Krasnoyarsk Independent Regional Channel (TVK) in Siberia asked its viewers if they wanted the war to continue or whether peace talks should be held instead.

A substantial majority, 59 percent, voted for peace, while 41 percent opposed the cessation of hostilities.

Igor Girkin tweeted a clip from the news program on his Twitter account. He is a former military and intelligence officer who assisted in the organization of pro-Russian militants during the Donbas war in 2014. Girkin responded to the election by writing, "Krasnoyarsk revolts?"

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