POLL SUGGESTS 91% RUSSIANS BACK CRIMEA’S ENTRY AS CONSTITUENT ENTITY
March 17, 17:12 UTC+4
According to the opinion poll, 94% believed Russia should protect
the rights of ethnic Russians and other nationalities living in Crimea
Demonstration in support of Crimea in Moscow
ITAR-TASS/Pavel Smertin
MOSCOW, March 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Ninety-one percent of polled Russian
nationals backed Crimea’s entry into Russia as its constituent member,
president of the Public Opinion Foundation told a news conference on
Monday referring to the opinion poll carried out jointly with the
All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center (WCIOM) between March 14
and 16.
About 97% voters supported Crimea split from Ukraine – Supreme
Council’s commission Alexander Oslon said “five percent answered ‘no,
I don’t agree’ to the question “Do you agree to Crimea’s joining our
country as a constituent member?” Another four percent of surveyed
Russians found it difficult to answer the question, Oslon added.
Director General of WCIOM Valery Fedorov said for his part that the
absolute majority of the polled people said Russia must protect the
rights of Russian-speaking people.
According to the opinion poll, 94% believed Russia should protect
the rights of ethnic Russians and other nationalities living in Crimea.
Sociologists said 83% believed Russia should protect their rights
“even if it worsens relations with other countries,” and 86% of the
polled Russians said “Crimea is Russia”.
Public Opinion Foundation and WCIOM spoke by telephone to 48,590
people in all Russian regions. Between 300 and 1,000-odd people were
surveyed in each of them. It was for the first time that an opinion
poll was carried out jointly by two research centers, Oslon said.