Most residents of Volgograd, about 70 percent, prefer not to change the city’s name. This finding comes from a telephone poll conducted by the Russian Field company, as reported by Volgograd.kp.ru.
In total, 1,031 Volgograd residents participated in the survey, which asked for views on a potential renaming and the possible reasons behind the heightened attention from authorities and the media.
If local authorities decide to rename the city, about 70 percent say they would oppose the move, while 25 percent support renaming and 5 percent were unsure. Among seniors over 60, 52 percent opposed the change and 44 percent supported it, with the older cohort showing the strongest nostalgia for the historic name Stalingrad compared with other age groups.
Younger residents aged 18 to 29 mostly oppose renaming, with 76 percent against and 17 percent in favor. People aged 30 to 44 also largely prefer the current name, with 77 percent opposed and 18 percent supportive. Among those aged 45 to 59, support for returning the name Stalingrad stands at 14 percent, while 80 percent oppose it.
Additionally, 74 percent of respondents preferred Volgograd as the name, 18 percent preferred Stalingrad, and 5 percent chose the pre-revolutionary Tsaritsyn.
When asked about the reasons behind the debate over renaming, about a quarter of participants cited a desire to preserve the memory of the Great Patriotic War, while 24 percent suggested that financial considerations could be involved in the process.
Roughly 23 percent indicated a goal to raise the level of patriotism, with 13 percent each saying the name could be changed to increase interest in the city or to boost morale during the ongoing military operation. A parallel survey conducted in the city on March 27, reported by RIA Novosti, involved local public figures and was described as separate from the telephone poll, with the co-chairman of the council for population views and the chairman of the veterans’ city council, Alexander Strukov, speaking on the matter.
According to an interlocutor from the agency, the survey did not take place on the streets but rather in private venues such as schools and other institutions. The plan was to represent groups including veterans, teachers, medical workers, and businesspeople, ensuring a cross-section of the community.
Reports from v1.ru suggested that most participants at the initial meeting survey were state employees, with some respondents remarking that they felt compelled to attend. In a public address, Volgograd Regional Duma Chairman Alexander Bloshkin described Volgograd’s status as an industrial and cultural hub as a strong argument for retaining the Stalingrad legacy. He urged journalists to allow residents to speak directly and honestly without mediation.
Noting the coverage, Oppression Notebook pointed out opinions about irregularities in the survey process. Some residents alleged that younger participants were discouraged, while others argued that the survey also occurred at venues across the city with different organizers. Artemy Vvedensky, head of the Russian Field, stressed in conversations with media that the Russian Field’s poll was a standalone company initiative and that the sample, which included a higher share of older residents, did not involve the organization in broader sampling. He added that phone surveys could reach retirement-age respondents because other age brackets had already exhausted their quotas for telephone interviews. He clarified that this did not apply to the Russian Field’s phone surveys as a response to media claims about youth exclusion.
According to the press service of Volgograd’s mayor, RBC reported that the city administration did not conduct a poll about renaming the city to Stalingrad. The administration stated that the survey was carried out in accordance with existing legislation and that Volgograd City Hall had no involvement in the issue.
At the end of January, VTsIOM conducted its own survey, which found that 67 percent of respondents did not support renaming Volgograd. The reasons cited included the high cost of the change, reminders of the war, and negative attitudes toward Joseph Stalin, with some participants calling the renaming harmful and saying there is no need to live in the past. In contrast, 26 percent supported the change. Historically, the city was known as Tsaritsyn from its founding in 1589 until 1925 and as Stalingrad from 1925 to 1961.