Nearly third of Ukrainians favor official status for Russian language - poll
KYIV. Dec 21 (Interfax) - The majority of Ukrainians, 63%, do not support the idea of granting the Russian language official status, according to a public opinion poll conducted by the sociological service Rating.
The poll, whose findings were presented at the Interfax-Ukraine press center on Thursday, found that 42% of those polled strongly disapprove of and 21% are inclined to disapprove of the idea of granting the Russian language official status, 16% are inclined to approve of it, 13% strongly approve of it, and 8% are undecided.
The idea of granting the Russian language official status is more popular in eastern Ukraine (44% in favor), and in the south (40%), while it is backed by 26% in the central part and by only 14% in the western part of Ukraine. The number of opponents is higher than the number of supporters in all regions of Ukraine.
The number of those in favor is lower than the number of opponents among supporters of all political parties except For Life, led by Vadym Rabinovych (50% vs. 47%); moreover, only 13% of those who vote for the Samopomich, 14% for the Civic Position, and 16% for Svoboda are in favor of the idea. Among those who vote for the Opposition Bloc, the number of those in favor of granting the Russian language official status is as high as 45% (vs. 50%).
The poll of 2,000 residents of Ukraine 18 years of age and older in face-to-face interviews was conducted between November 22 and 30, 2017. The margin of error is 2.2%.