The share of Russian citizens considering the conflict in Ukraine to be a consequence of Western interference has decreased in the past year from 64 percent to 45 percent, the Levada Center told Interfax.
At the same time, the share of those who think that the reasons behind the conflict are nationalistic policy of the Ukrainian authorities (27 percent now against 20 percent in July 2014) and protest of eastern Ukrainian residents against the new Kyiv authorities (15 percent against 7 percent), has grown. Four per cent said they blame Russia and 10 percent failed to respond, the survey held on July 17-20 in 134 cities, towns and villages in 46 Russian oblasts showed.
According to the information of sociologists, 70 percent of Russians fear that the current armed clashes in eastern Ukraine can escalate into a long civil war, while 25 percent have no concerns in this regard.
Fifty one per cent are afraid that battle actions in this oblast could lead to a war between Russia and Ukraine and 43 percent have no fear, the survey said. Another 43 percent of Russian residents see the possibility of armed clashes in southeastern Ukraine escalating into world war three, and 49 percent have the opposite viewpoint, sociologists said.
When asked about their attitude to the fact that Russian volunteers fight among militia in southeastern Ukraine, 53 percent said they supported this, 27 percent said they were opposed, and 21 percent failed to respond.
At the same time, when asked how they would respond if they found out that Russian career military personnel are fighting alongside militia in eastern Ukraine, 40 percent of respondents said they would treat this negatively, 33 percent would approve, and 28 percent could not answer, the survey showed.
As of now, 52 percent of Russian citizens believe there are not Russian troops in Ukraine, 26 percent have the opposite viewpoint, and 22 percent failed to respond, the poll showed.
