Most Russians aware of elections to Rada, do not expect them to affect Russian-Ukrainian relations - poll
MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax) - Most Russians - 72% - are aware of the recent elections to the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, including 16% who followed developments in them, as is seen from a sociological survey of 1,500 respondents the Public Opinion Foundation conducted in 100 populated areas in 43 regions of Russia on November 2.
As many as 27% of those polled were unaware of the Ukrainian elections.
The sociologists asked those who had heard about the elections to the Rada to mention parties running in them. More than half of the respondents - 52% - could not answer, 11% recalled the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, 10% Batkivshchyna, 9% the Popular Front, and 2% Svoboda.
The Popular Front led by Arseny Yatsenyuk and the Petro Poroshenko Bloc garnered most of the votes in the elections. Asked about their attitude toward Yatsenyuk, 62% of the respondents said it was negative, 3% positive, 21% admitted they did not know anything about him, and 15% did not answer. Also, 4% have positive attitudes toward Poroshenko, 67% negative, 14% do not know anything about him, and 15% are undecided.
The poll showed that 47% of Russians consider the elections to the Verkhovna Rada an important event, while 27% hold the opposite view.
More than half of the respondents - 52% - do not expect changes in Russian-Ukrainian relations following the elections, 5% expect them to improve and 12% believe they would worsen. Another 31% were undecided.
As many as 39% of Russians also said they were sure that, following the elections, the Ukrainian government forces would resume the combat activities in Donbas, 13% were of the view that Kyiv would try to reach an agreement on a durable peace with the self-proclaimed republics, 18% suggested that Kyiv would not do any of this, and 30% were undecided.