Since the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine Feb. 24, some Russian restaurants and businesses throughout the United States have been boycotted or vandalized by Americans angry with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The message is clear: Americans will not support anything – or anyone – associated with the war in Eastern Europe. Yet in their frustration with the war, Americans’ anger may be misdirected at other Americans who share those very frustrations.
In a first-of-its-kind Suffolk University/USA TODAY national poll of Americans of Russian and Ukrainian heritage, we find that not only those of Ukrainian heritage but also Americans of Russian heritage overwhelmingly disapprove of the war.
In fact, most Americans of Russian heritage went beyond disapproving of the war in their responses. Compared to 87% who disapprove of the war, nearly as many would like to see Putin removed from office (82%) and charged with war crimes (70%). 85% of Americans of Russian heritage also disapprove of the job Putin is doing as president.
Our poll finds these respondents don’t buy the Russian propaganda that Ukraine provoked the attack: just 14% say Ukraine provoked the invasion, while 74% said there was no provocation. Americans of Ukrainian heritage agreed and across the board were at or above these response levels.
Furthermore, the poll captures a negative causal relationship between Americans of Russian heritage’s opinions on Putin driven by the invasion – they’ve sourced on him.
When asked if their opinion of Putin was better, worse, or the same compared to before the most recent attack in February, just 3% said better, 63% said worse, and 29% said the same.
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When asked to describe President Putin in a word, those of Russian heritage in the US called him a “dictator/tyrant (15%), “evil/monster” (10%), “awful/horrible” (9%), “ crazy/insane” (9%), “mean/bully” (9%), and “criminal/corrupt” (6%). You have to look far down the list before you get to “determined” (4%) and “powerful” (3%).
For obvious reasons, Ukrainian-Americans have an even worse opinion of the invasion and Putin, and, ironically, some of the Russian tea houses and establishments vandalized by Americans are Ukrainian owned.
Russian Americans hold surprisingly high view of Zelenskyy
My initial hypothesis was that even if Americans of Russian heritage don’t support the war, they would be lukewarm at best in their favorability toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been outspoken and defiant in the face of the invasion.
However, the poll shows that Russians in the US widely approve of Zelensky’s job performance, rating him at 72% approve and 15% disapprove. Americans of Ukrainian heritage scored Zelensky only slightly better at 88% approve – 6% disapprove.
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In response to this data, a boycotter might say “Well, even if the boycotting hurts fellow Americans, it will also indirectly hurt relatives of these Russian-Americans in Russia who are supportive of President Putin and the invasion.”
Yet again, the poll suggests the boycotts are mistargeted. According to respondents who have communicated with relatives in Russia, their overseas relatives had a 14% favorable – 71% unfavorable rating of their president. And 79% of them oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Turning to American politics, respondents were less favorable of Joe Biden but also less unfavorable – in other words, these respondents were much more undecided than the rest of the country.
Ukrainian Americans down on Biden more than Russian Americans are
A majority of those of both of Russian (Approve 36% – 48% Disapprove) and Ukrainian (Approve 31% – 49% Disapprove) heritage disapprove of Biden. The bad news for the president is that both of these approval ratings fall below the statistic from our Suffolk/USA TODAY poll of national registered voters last month (Approve 39% – 57% Disapprove).
The good news for Biden is that neither group has a Biden disapproval over 50%, which has been a common thread in all national polls for the past 6 months.
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Yet, Biden’s approval is lower among Ukrainians than it is for Russians.
The poll shows an indication as to why. When asked whether the US is doing too much, not enough, or offering the right amount of support, 70% of Ukrainians say the US isn’t doing enough. Only 20% say the US is offering the right amount of support.
And when Ukrainians were asked what steps the United States should take going forward as the war escalates, 73% want increased supplies of military hardware, 72% want very strict economic sanctions, and 67% want the US to admit Ukrainian citizens displaced by the war .
But many Ukrainians want US troops involved, as well. The poll tells us that a majority (51%) want the US to deploy troops to bolster NATO allies, and nearly 1 in 3 (30%) want the deployment of US troops to the frontlines in Ukraine to fight the Russian forces.
www.usatoday.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism