May 7, 2021. VCIOM presents the data of a survey about Victory Day celebration.
According to 69% of Russians, Victory Day is the most important holiday. It is especially popular among respondents aged 60 and over (78%), those aged 45-59 (70%), people living in the cities with a population of 100-500 thousand inhabitants (73%), residents of the cities having up to 100 thousand inhabitants (71%) and rural area (70%).
To mark this holiday, one-third of Russians (32%) are going to take part in celebrations (parades, wreath-laying, etc.); every fifth Russian (21%) is going to watch TV; 16% will watch fireworks; 16% will have a walk or go to the countryside; 15% are going to have friends over or visit friends. Respondents are also going to do household chores (15%), go to the dacha (15%), to work (15%) and to go the cinema or theater (2%).
Victory Day is commonly associated with military parade (56%), St George ribbon (50%), Immortal regiment march (43%), eternal flame (37%) and military songs (37%). Fireworks (35%), Victory Banner (20%), orders and medals (19%), and red carnations (19%) were also cited.
Russians would like to sing the following songs with their relatives: “Den Pobedy” (59%), “Katyusha” (57%), “Smuglyanka” (31%), “Zhuravli” (21%) and “Siny Platochek” (19%).
The most popular movies about war are “V boy idut odnis stariki” (Only Old Men Are Going to Battle) (27%), “A zori zdes tikhie” (The Dawns Here Are Quiet) (14%), “Ofitsery” (Officers) (14%), “Oni srazhalis za rodinu” (They Fought for Their Country) (12%) and “Semnadtsat mgnoveniy vesny” (Seventeen Moments of Spring) (9%).
Russian nationwide VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on May 5, 2021. A total of 1,600 of Russians aged 18 and older took part in the survey. Results are based on telephone interviews. Stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of Russian landline and mobile phone numbers was used. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
What holidays are important to you? You can cite up to 3 holidays (closed-ended question, up to 3 answers, % of total respondents) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | 60 and over |
Victory Day — May 9 | 69 | 57 | 65 | 63 | 70 | 78 |
New Year’s Eve — January 1 | 63 | 66 | 65 | 65 | 62 | 59 |
International Women’s Day — March 8 | 29 | 25 | 25 | 37 | 30 | 27 |
Easter | 25 | 10 | 20 | 19 | 31 | 31 |
Defender's Day — February 23 | 18 | 30 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 18 |
Christmas — January 7 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 21 |
Professional holidays (Miner's Day, Paratroopers' Day, Artilleryman’s Day etc.) | 8 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 8 |
Russia Day — June 12 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
Cosmonautics Day — April 12 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
Kurban Bairam | 5 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
National Unity Day — November 4 | 5 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
October Revolution Day / Day of Accord and Reconciliation — November 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
St Valentine’s Day — February 14 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Other (specify) | 12 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 7 |
Don’t know | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
What holidays are important to you? You can cite up to 3 holidays (closed-ended question, up to 3 answers, % of total respondents) | ||||
| 2017 | 2018 | 2020 | 2021 |
Victory Day — May 9 | 67 | 75 | 71 | 69 |
New Year’s Eve — January 1 | 62 | 55 | 66 | 63 |
International Women’s Day — March 8 | 31 | 27 | 27 | 29 |
Easter | 31 | 31 | 34 | 25 |
Defender's Day — February 23 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 18 |
Christmas — January 7 | 22 | 26 | 18 | 18 |
Professional holidays (Miner's Day, Paratroopers' Day, Artilleryman’s Day etc.) | 10 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
Russia Day — June 12 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 8 |
Cosmonautics Day — April 12 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
Kurban Bairam | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
National Unity Day — November 4 |
| 7 | 3 | 5 |
October Revolution Day / Day of Accord and Reconciliation — November 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
St Valentine’s Day — February 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Other (specify) | - | - | 2 | 12 |
Don’t know | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
What holidays are important to you? You can cite up to 3 holidays (closed-ended question, up to 3 answers, % of total respondents) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St Petersburg | Million-plus cities | 500-950 thousand inhabitants | 100—500 thousand | Less than 100 thousand | Rural rea |
Victory Day — May 9 | 69 | 62 | 66 | 64 | 73 | 71 | 70 |
New Year’s Eve — January 1 | 63 | 72 | 76 | 65 | 68 | 57 | 52 |
International Women’s Day — March 8 | 29 | 28 | 30 | 35 | 26 | 31 | 28 |
Easter | 25 | 20 | 24 | 18 | 27 | 28 | 26 |
Defender's Day — February 23 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 19 |
Christmas — January 7 | 18 | 21 | 16 | 17 | 20 | 20 | 13 |
Professional holidays (Miner's Day, Paratroopers' Day, Artilleryman’s Day etc.) | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
Russia Day — June 12 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 10 |
Cosmonautics Day — April 12 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Kurban Bairam | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 11 |
National Unity Day — November 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 5 |
October Revolution Day / Day of Accord and Reconciliation — November 7 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
St Valentine’s Day — February 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Other (specify) | 12 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 9 | 12 | 14 |
Don’t know | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Victory day is approaching. How are you going to spend it? (closed-ended question, any number of answers, % of total respondents) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 and over |
I will take part in celebrations (parades, wreath-laying, march, etc.) | 32 | 27 | 37 | 35 | 33 | 28 |
I will watch TV | 21 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 21 | 39 |
I will watch Victory Day fireworks | 16 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 16 |
I will have a walk, go to the countryside (for a picnic, barbecue, etc.) | 16 | 20 | 16 | 19 | 17 | 12 |
I will have friends over; I will visit friends myself | 15 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 18 |
Household chores | 15 | 21 | 14 | 17 | 16 | 12 |
Gardening at dacha | 15 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 21 |
Working | 15 | 13 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 6 |
I will go to the cinema, theatre, concert | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
I will go the restaurant, club, party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Other (specify) | 13 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 19 |
Don’t know | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Which of the below-mentioned do you associate with Victory Day? (closed-ended question, any number of answers, % of total respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
Military parade | 56 |
Ribbon of St George | 50 |
Immortal regiment march | 43 |
Eternal flame | 37 |
Music and war songs | 36 |
Victory Day fireworks | 35 |
Victory Banner | 20 |
Orders, medals | 19 |
Red carnation | 19 |
Military porridge | 14 |
“The narkom's 100 grams” | 9 |
Eternal flame | 1 |
Other (specify) | 14 |
Don’t know | 1 |