Public Opinion in Conflict Situations: A Sentiment Analysis of Tweets About Russia During the War on Ukraine

Wars not only bring death and suffering to the conflicting parties, but they can also trigger a spiral of negative emotions in the countries observing the conflict. This study examines global public opinion at the start of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 by analyzing comments about Russia on X (formerly Twitter) in 127 countries. Using Python, the sentiment levels (positive, negative, neutral) of a total sample of 429,408 tweets in 48 languages were estimated. In addition to quantifying a net sentiment index for each country, the study focuses on the possible existence of differences in terms of military, political and cultural factors. The results show that sentiment towards Russia after the invasion was negative in most countries around the world, although there were significant differences between opinions in NATO countries and those allied with Russia. Additionally, public opinion was less negative in individualistic countries compared to those with collectivist societies.