Introduction

The mission of the Cultura Foundation is to promote the integration and inclusion of Russian speakers living in Finland by producing and analysing up‑to-date information, among other things. The Foundation has pursued this mission over recent years by commissioning studies relating to the Russian-speaking population, integration, inclusion and integration services.

In 2022, the Cultura Foundation conducted a broad opinion survey among the Russian‑speaking population in Finland, based on random sampling from the Population Information System. The aim of the survey was to examine the attitudes and views of Russian speakers in Finland regarding Finnish society in general and their own participation, as well as current societal issues in particular. Russian speakers living in Finland have also been studied academically, both before and since, from perspectives including integration, identity, inclusion, discrimination, media use and social participation^[1]. The studies commissioned by the Cultura Foundation help to complement the knowledge base on this population group.

Following the initial study^[2] in 2022, the Cultura Foundation conducted follow‑up studies in 2024^[3] and 2026. This report discusses the results of the 2026 follow-up study.

The Russian Speakers in Finland 2026 report highlights the current situation regarding the views and opinions of Russian speakers living in Finland and examines any changes that may have taken place in them. The results were interpreted in cooperation between experts from the research provider Bondata Research Oy, experts from the Cultura Foundation, and a steering group^[4] appointed by the Cultura Foundation. Based on the findings of the report, recommendations are formulated for central government, municipalities, the Cultura Foundation and further research.

The Russian Speakers in Finland studies include questions repeated identically since 2022 and questions whose content or phrasing has been modified between survey rounds. New content has also been added in each survey round, and correspondingly some content has been removed. As early as 2022, when preparing the first survey round, central government information needs were taken into account, and consequently the survey includes, where applicable, content from the Citizens’ Pulse survey^[5] , which measures the opinions of the general population, to enable comparison. In this report, comparisons are made with the Citizens’ Pulse data collection from week 15 (April 2026), which was conducted concurrently with the data collection for the Russian Speakers in Finland 2026 survey. Comparisons are made where applicable, as the question wording, scales and data collection methods are not fully comparable in all respects.

The National Emergency Supply Agency acted as a strategic partner to the Cultura Foundation in both the 2024 and 2026 follow‑up studies by funding part of their implementation. The National Emergency Supply Agency aimed to obtain an overview of the state of integration and trust, as well as information on the media consumption habits and media trust of the Russian-speaking population and an analysis of their actions in potential societal emergencies or crises. The information needs of the National Emergency Supply Agency were taken into account in the content of the follow-up study.

The Russian Speakers in Finland 2026 survey was based on 1,022 telephone interviews. The target population of the study consisted of people aged 20 or over living in Finland whose registered native language is Russian. The interview register drawn from the Population Information System was compiled on the basis of sample sizes defined by major region, age group and gender. One person per household was included in the sample, and only people with a telephone number were included.

The 2026 study was conducted using largely the same population‑register-based telephone interview design as the 2022 and 2024 studies and was carried out by the same research provider. Methodological differences between survey rounds and the technical implementation of the 2026 study are described in more detail in the following chapter.