6 in 10 Britons support UK government sanctions against Russia – but support falls if energy prices increase

• 1 in 3 think sanctions to date do not go far enough.
• 3 in 4 claim to be following crisis closely but just 1 in 3 know ‘a great deal’ or ‘fair amount’ about Ukraine

New polling conducted by Ipsos on 22 February shows that 6 in 10 Britons support sanctions being introduced by the UK government in response to Russian sending troops into Ukraine. Just one in ten oppose this action. However, support for sanctions falls to around half (with opposition rising to one in five) should sanctions lead to increased energy costs in the UK.

Britons were also asked about the range of responses they might support in the coming months now that Russia has sent troops into Ukraine. One in five (21%) felt Britain should not intervene at all – consistent with a similar question asked in January. Meanwhile, 50% support economic sanctions (up ten points from January), 40% humanitarian intervention to support refugees  (+4 points) and 20% support military intervention (+3 points).

When asked about the initial sanctions introduced this week against five Russian banks and three wealthy Russian individuals, one in three (34%) say they do not go far enough. Just over one in three (35%) say they are about right and one in ten (11%) say they have gone too far. One in five say they don’t know (21%).

When asked how closely they are following events between Russia and Ukraine, 73% say they are following the situation closely (30% very closely). However, this is less than the 88% saying they have followed the recent weather / storms closely and the 8 in 10 that say they are following the relaxation of Covid restrictions closely. Meanwhile, before recent news stories just one in three (34%) claimed to know ‘a great deal’ or ‘fair amount’ about Ukraine with 65% saying they knew ‘not very much’ or ‘nothing at all’.

The public are less critical of Boris Johnson’s handling of the crisis than they were last month. 26% think he has done a good job handling the situation (+7 points) and 32% say he has done a bad job (-9 points).

Keiran Pedley, Research Director at Ipsos in the UK, says: 

The principle of introducing sanctions in response to Russia sending troops into Ukraine is supported by the British public, although if it leads to increased energy prices that does reduce support. And many also say they are following the story closely, although not as much as some other domestic stories, and we shouldn’t overestimate the prior knowledge people had of Ukraine. Ratings of the Prime Minister’s handling of the situation have got slightly less negative over the last few weeks, although still Britons are divided on whether the first set of sanctions are the appropriate level of response.

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,018 British adults aged 16-75. Interviews were conducted online on the 22nd February 2022. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.