Most Russians feel ‘happy'
Almost 80% of Russians feel happy despite the external challenges, according to a nationwide poll released on Wednesday.
The survey by state pollster VCIOM suggests that the overall sense of wellbeing among the population remains robust, with only the proportion of individuals identifying as absolutely or moderately happy fluctuating from month to month.
In its latest poll, which surveyed some 1,600 Russians over the age of 18 last month, VCIOM asked the respondents:
'There are good and bad things in life, but overall, would you say you are happy?'
READ MORE:
Russia achieves lowest ever infant mortality rate – Mishustin
The pollster found that 79% of Russians described themselves as
'happy in one way or another,'
with more than a third (36%) saying they were
'absolutely happy.'
'As recent years have shown, happiness levels in Russia have remained surprisingly resilient in the face of external shocks,'
the pollster noted.
VCIOM cited the Covid-19 pandemic, which it claims did not lead to widespread despondency, as proof of
'the psychological resilience of the population.'
According to the latest World Happiness Report, meanwhile, Russia ranked 66th among the 147 countries surveyed last year. Finland was reported as the happiest and Afghanistan the least happy.
READ MORE:
Many Russians oppose women as bosses – survey
Among European nations, the unhappiest was Ukraine, which also ranked 111th globally.
The World Happiness Report is an annual publication that measures global contentment based on life evaluations, social support, freedom of choice, GDP per capita, and additional indicators of wellbeing. The data is drawn from the Gallup World Poll and various supplementary sources.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
20-04-2025
- Russia Today
What it means to be White in America
To be White in America is to hold a name carved by wind and migration, shaped by soil and scripture, encoded in lullabies sung across centuries. This identity carries bodies across oceans, dreams across generations. It lives in cathedrals turned into cornfields, in the hush of forest chapels where ancestors still speak in the rustling of leaves. The word 'White' becomes a vessel when other names dissolve into static, when 'American' turns into a slogan sprayed on billboards without substance. In this name, something ancestral stirs — something neither ashamed nor aggressive, only awake. Multiculturalism, as it manifests now, behaves like a solvent. It dissolves the distinct, merges the sacred into sameness, smiles as it rubs out the texture of rooted lives. Within this flood, those who carry European memory find themselves drifting, searching for a foothold. The word 'White' is that foothold. It holds meaning through resistance, through memory, through the fierce dignity of cultural continuity. Identity, in this sense, becomes a form of love — love for origins, love for inherited stories, love for those yet to come. Supremacism speaks in the language of domination. Identity speaks in the language of presence. The White American who awakens to his name does not seek a throne. He seeks a hearth. He seeks a way to stay whole in a world that rewards fragmentation. This is a path of loyalty to one's kind, never hostility towards others. In the garden of peoples, each flower flourishes with its own fragrance. Ethnopluralism offers an architecture of difference, a choreography of coexistence, where each cultural rhythm retains its beat without drowning the others. The term 'White' in the American lexicon carries a unique frequency. It vibrates with Jefferson's quill and Bach's organ, with frontier hymns and Viennese waltzes, with cavalry horns and Celtic chants. To call oneself White in this context is to protect this frequency from dissonance disguised as 'inclusion.' It is to declare, without aggression, that the old songs deserve to be sung again. Memory deserves air. Tradition deserves breath. Identity deserves more than footnotes in someone else's anthology. European nationalists who peer across the Atlantic may see a racial label where a cultural signal flares. In America, this signal reaches through the noise, calling for cohesion in the absence of nationhood. The immigrant once became American through absorption into a defined mythos. That mythos no longer exists. 'White' now fills the vacuum with a new mode of belonging — fused from ancestral fragments, reconstructed into a postmodern tribe bound by shared affinities rather than state-sponsored creeds. This tribe seeks kinship, not conquest. The word itself — 'White' — is undergoing alchemy. Once used carelessly, once wielded cruelly, now reclaimed with care. It becomes a sanctuary word, a quiet defiance against vanishing. It shields neither empire nor empire-building. It cradles only memory. Those who say the word do so with reverence, tracing maps invisible to those who only see skin. Within this word lives the village, the chapel bell, the grandmother's eyes. To be White, then, is to feel time coiling through your veins, to hold the sacred burden of continuity with both hands. Identity here acts as a compass, never a cage. It points to something essential, never reductive. Within its frame, new expressions rise — art, ritual, story, space. The future emerges from the past, remixed through intention rather than accident. Each person who reclaims identity becomes a steward. Each community that honors its inheritance becomes a lighthouse. In the haze of cultural disintegration, the glow of remembrance shines stronger than shame. Authentic diversity, when anchored in respect, requires difference. And difference requires selfhood. To be pro-White is to be pro-identity. To affirm one's people is to affirm all peoples. The line between celebration and supremacism is one of spirit, not volume. This spirit seeks harmony, not hierarchy. A world without distinct identities offers only the cold hum of managed sameness. A world of living cultures brims with meaning. So let this be said clearly: the affirmation of White identity, grounded in respect, carried with humility, lit by ancestral fire, serves not as a threat — but as a promise. A promise to remain, to remember, to reimagine. This article was first published on Constantin von Hoffmeister's Substack,
Russia Today
16-04-2025
- Russia Today
Most Russians feel ‘happy'
Almost 80% of Russians feel happy despite the external challenges, according to a nationwide poll released on Wednesday. The survey by state pollster VCIOM suggests that the overall sense of wellbeing among the population remains robust, with only the proportion of individuals identifying as absolutely or moderately happy fluctuating from month to month. In its latest poll, which surveyed some 1,600 Russians over the age of 18 last month, VCIOM asked the respondents: 'There are good and bad things in life, but overall, would you say you are happy?' READ MORE: Russia achieves lowest ever infant mortality rate – Mishustin The pollster found that 79% of Russians described themselves as 'happy in one way or another,' with more than a third (36%) saying they were 'absolutely happy.' 'As recent years have shown, happiness levels in Russia have remained surprisingly resilient in the face of external shocks,' the pollster noted. VCIOM cited the Covid-19 pandemic, which it claims did not lead to widespread despondency, as proof of 'the psychological resilience of the population.' According to the latest World Happiness Report, meanwhile, Russia ranked 66th among the 147 countries surveyed last year. Finland was reported as the happiest and Afghanistan the least happy. READ MORE: Many Russians oppose women as bosses – survey Among European nations, the unhappiest was Ukraine, which also ranked 111th globally. The World Happiness Report is an annual publication that measures global contentment based on life evaluations, social support, freedom of choice, GDP per capita, and additional indicators of wellbeing. The data is drawn from the Gallup World Poll and various supplementary sources.
Russia Today
10-01-2025
- Russia Today
Russia donates grain to Ethiopia
Russia has donated more than 1,600 tons of grain to Ethiopia as part of its ongoing food aid initiative, TASS reported on Thursday, citing the Russian Embassy in Addis Ababa. The donation aims to support refugees in Ethiopia's Gambella region, where severe funding shortages have left many in need. The embassy explained that funding shortages had severely impacted food aid programs in the region, leaving refugees supported by the UN World Food Program (WFP) with only 60% of their daily nutritional needs. The Russian grain donation will provide critical assistance to 163,240 refugees. The grain handover ceremony was held on Thursday at the WFP's main logistics hub in Adama. Russian ambassador to Ethiopia, Yevgeny Terekhin, participated in the event, highlighting the strong historical ties between Russia and Ethiopia. He referenced Soviet humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia during the Great Famine of the late 1980s and reiterated Moscow's continued commitment to supporting vulnerable populations. 'We hope that the Russian grain now being transferred will help Ethiopia to support needy populations in drought-affected areas,' Terekhin stated. He also extended gratitude to WFP colleagues for their role in transporting and distributing the grain. The ambassador detailed Russia's broader contributions to the WFP, noting that the country funds the organization's activities to the tune of between $60 million and $70 million annually. 'This money is used to buy food, including in Russia, which is then delivered to the hot spots of famine,' Terekhin said. Russia's humanitarian efforts extend beyond Ethiopia. The Telegram channel of the news agency African Initiative reported that more than 70 tons of sunflower oil were delivered to Port Sudan just before the new year as part of an additional Russian contribution to the UN WFP fund. Moscow also recently sent humanitarian aid to Mali. On December 30, more than 65 tons of wheat arrived at the port of Conakry, Guinea. At a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last February, Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev reported that Moscow had successfully delivered 200,000 tons of wheat to six low-income African nations, free of charge, making it the biggest humanitarian initiative ever conducted by Russia. Meanwhile, the Russian company Uralchem, one of the world's largest fertilizer producers, has sent more than 134,000 tons of fertilizers to African nations free of charge since late 2022. In collaboration with the WFP, over 111,000 tons have been shipped from European ports and warehouses to Malawi, Nigeria, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.
