Russia right to reunite with Crimea, not responsible for Ukraine bloodshed - poll
MOSCOW. Aug 12 (Interfax) - Most Russians see Crimea's reunification with their country as a big achievement and are certain that the military operation in east Ukraine is conducted under pressure from the United States, sociologists at the Levada-Center told Interfax.
According to the findings of a poll conducted on August 1-4, 85% respondents said that Crimea's reunification with Russia is a big achievement for the Russian government and will have positive effects. Those considering it a mistake accounted for 6%.
A relative majority (45%) of respondents is expecting spending cuts, price increases and lower living standards as a result of Crimea's reunion with Russia and support for the militia in east Ukraine. More than one-third (38%) of respondents disagreed with this view and 17% could not predict how the situation will evolve.
Overall, more than half (55%) of respondents are convinced that Russia must put its national interests ahead of Ukraine's problems. The opposite view is held by 31%; 14% could not decide on the priorities.
More than half (52%) of all 1,600 respondents are convinced that Ukraine is seeking to become closer to Europe as it has become "a puppet in the hands of western and American politicians pursuing an anti-Russian policy." A quarter of Russians (26%) believe that the pro-European course was chosen by Ukraine out of its aspiration for democracy, prosperity and freedom. Six per cent respondents said Ukrainians want to get over the Soviet past; 3% said Russia has become an "undemocratic and stagnant" country and its neighbor feels put off by it.
One in ten (10%) respondents said "the Ukrainians have never liked the Russians." Three per cent of respondents could not answer.
The majority (77%) of respondents said they are certain Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko is conducting the military operation in the east of the country under pressure from the U.S. Only 7% see it as the Ukrainian president's independent decision. One in nine (11%) respondents assumed the initiative was coming both from Ukraine and the U.S.
Three-quarters of respondents (75%) are also convinced that Russia is not responsible for the bloodshed in Ukraine. Eleven per cent said they feel personally responsible for people dying in the east of the neighboring country.
The poll was conducted by the Levada-Center in 134 towns across 46 Russian regions.