Study: Nearly 43% of Russian POWs don’t consider Ukrainians fully human — and 70% call war justified

A new study shows that 42.94% of Russian prisoners of war (POWs) believe that the average Ukrainian is “not a fully-fledged human being.” The poll has been conducted by the non-profit Lingva Lexa and published by Ukrainska Pravda. 

Nearly 70% of the POWs describe Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine as “justified and necessary at least in part,” while the overall average level of perceived legitimacy of the war among respondents stands at 35.81%.

88% of Russian POWs consider the war justified at least in part

Sociologists record a direct correlation between belief in Russian propaganda and support for the war. Among those who believe propaganda, 88% consider the war justified at least in part. Among those who do not believe in propaganda, this figure is 51%.

At the same time, 32.71% of respondents say they are ready to rejoin the Russian Armed Forces after a prisoner exchange, another 28.92% are willing to return in non-combat roles, and 22.29% report a certain readiness to go back to fighting.

Researchers also note that 13% of POWs who believe propaganda call the war “absolutely justified,” compared to only 2% among those who do not trust propaganda.

Dehumanization is a weapon of war

The study finds that, on average, 47.61% of Russian POWs believe Russian propaganda, and 76.95% accept at least one Kremlin propaganda narrative.

On average, respondents assess that “Ukrainians are only 88% developed compared to other people”,  an indicator that directly illustrates dehumanization as a mechanism for legitimizing violence and war.