Over half of Canadians fear Russia-Ukraine conflict could be drawn into a nuclear war: poll

Over half of Canadians fear that the Russia-Ukraine war could turn nuclear, according to a new poll.

The Maru Public Opinion survey found that a majority of those polled, 56 per cent, believe it’s time for Ukraine military forces, backed by NATO, to keep fighting to push Russia out of the Ukrainian territory it currently has as a result of its invasion.

However, if they continue to press forward, those polled have a fear Russians could take drastic action. Sixty-one percent believe they could blow up a Ukraine nuclear power plant to spread radiation, while 59 per cent far Russia launching a limited nuclear strike and 53 per cent are afraid of Russia and NATO being drawn into an all-out nuclear war.

Another half of Canadians also fear the conflict could extend to North America should it come to a nuclear war.

As to which side those polled think is winning, over 40 per cent believe that the war is at a stalemate and neither the Russians or Ukraine are winning. Another quarter believe Ukraine is winning the war while just a fraction, eight per cent tilts the winning to Russia.

A majority of Canadians, 63 per cent, say they are closely following the war while 55 per cent also followed the recent attempted coup in Russia by a mercenary army. Those most likely to be following it were over the age of 55 and men.

A feud between the Wagner Group, a private military contractor, and Russia’s military that has festered throughout the war erupted into a mutiny that saw the mercenaries leave Ukraine to seize a military headquarters in a southern Russian city and roll seemingly unopposed for hundreds of miles toward Moscow, before turning around after less than 24 hours on Saturday.

The series of events constituted the gravest threat so far to Vladimir Putin’s grip on power, occurring during the 16-month-old war in Ukraine, and he again acknowledged the threat Tuesday in saying the result could have been a civil war.

NATO has also laid out the biggest revamp to the organization’s military plans since the Cold War should Moscow dare to widen the conflict.

As an organization, NATO does not provide weapons or ammunition to Ukraine. At the same time, it is massively reinforcing the security of member countries near Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

This survey was conducted from June 26 to 27, 2023, among a random selection of 1,543 Canadian adults who are Maru voice Canada panelists. The probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

With files from The Associated Press