The proportion of Russians who view the U.S. as the most hostile country towards Moscow has almost halved over the last year, according to a survey.

The poll by the independent Levada Center found 40 percent of respondents agreed that the U.S. was the most hostile nation towards Russia, down from 76 percent in 2024.

Aleksei Miniailo, an independent Russian sociologist who founded a separate polling group called Chronicles, told Newsweek Monday that the Levada figures show how fragile the effect of anti-U.S. propaganda in Russia actually is.

Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment.

Why It Matters

The Kremlin and its propagandists have framed Vladimir Putin‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a proxy war with the West, regularly issuing nuclear threats towards Kyiv’s allies.

However the Levada center polling shows shows that this antipathy towards the U.S. is not shared by most Russians, which could be a backdrop to a thawing of ties between the countries since President Donald Trump came into office.

What To Know

The Levada Center asked 1,613 Russian adults between May 22 and May 28 about their attitudes to different countries in a poll with a margin of error no greater than 3.4 percent.

The share of respondents who named the U.S. as the most hostile country towards Russia was 40 percent—down from 76 percent in 2024.

This dip saw the U.S. drop from first to fourth on the list of hostile countries for the first time in two decades and was behind Germany (55 percent), the U.K. (49 percent) and Ukraine (43 percent), against which Moscow has been waging war since 2022.

Levada said that attitudes toward the U.S. continue to improve amid the Trump administration’s peace-making efforts.

It found over one third (37 percent) of respondents had a positive attitude toward the U.S, 21 percentage points since September 2024. Less than half (47 percent) had a negative attitude, down by 25 percentage points in the same time frame.

The survey found that the most positive attitude towards the U.S. came from those under 24 years old (49 percent), Muscovites (42 percent), and those who had visited other European countries.

The groups with the most negative attitude toward the United States were respondents aged 40-54 (52 percent) and those who have never been to European countries (49 percent).

Meanwhile respondents named Belarus (80 percent), China (64 percent), Kazakhstan (36 percent), India (32 percent) and North Korea (30 percent) as Russia’s “closest friends and allies.”

Miniailo, a Russian opposition politician from the research group Chronicles, said the Levada findings show that propaganda against the West had a strong effect but this can fade very quickly when it comes up against pro-U.S. information flows, such as from Hollywood films.

He said the key factor is whether Kremlin opinion, stated by propaganda outlets is contested widely, which is why an anti-war position is criminally pursued in Russia.

“However, it’s hardly possible to criminalize watching Hollywood movies, so the propaganda discourse is challenged by soft power,” he added, noting that Chronicles’ own polling in 2024 found that Russians wanted to see relations with the West restored, despite Kremlin messaging.

What People Are Saying

Levada Center: “The most hostile countries for Russians are Germany, the U.K., Ukraine, the United States and Poland; For the first time in 20 years of measurements, the U.S. dropped from first place to fourth place on this list.”

Aleksei Miniailo, Russian opposition politician and sociologist: “This figure shows how fragile the effect of propaganda actually is…its effects decay very fast.”

What Happens Next

Russian media continue to disparage Ukraine’s Western allies for their support of Kyiv against Russian aggression. The Levada polling suggests that fewer people are listening to this messaging, as the Trump administration continues to push for negotiations to end the Ukraine war.