Russian society in 2015: what we learned about it from sociological polls

Modern socio-political history of Russia can be quite clearly divided into several important periods, each of which is characterized by particular political environment and specific social consciousness. The accession of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation in March 2014 is one of the landmark events, a milestone that marks the transition from one phase of this history to the next. This event (or rather, process that started, according to some estimates, in the autumn of 2013, or in February 2014) indicated a sharp turn in Russian foreign policy and in its relations with the West and East. The accession of Crimea has led to phenomenal growth and expansion of support for the policy pursued by Vladimir Putin and for his personality: without exaggeration, he has become not just a political leader but the leader of the nation. The trend set by the accession of Crimea was evolving in 2014-2015; a special feature of this development was that Russia obtained the positive effect almost immediately, and negative consequences followed only after a while. And the farther our life from March 2014, the more pronounced these deferred negative consequences; while the benefits gained are being partly exhausted and partly forgotten as they recede into a background. Negative consequences include the conflict with the West and the efforts of several influential countries to isolate Russia in the international arena, the war in Ukraine and the collapse of Russian-Ukrainian relations in all areas, Western sanctions against the financial and commodity sectors of Russia’s economy, the weakening of the Russian currency and growth of prices for imported goods and then - for food and non-food commodities. Thus, in the course of time, the price paid by Russian society for the accession of Crimea grew rather than fell.