Interfax: Russians support Crimean accession to Russia – poll

MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) – An overwhelming majority of Russians (93%) support Crimea’s accession to Russia and only 4% have a negative opinion, the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) said.

In the opinion of 89% of Russians, Crimea means Russia.

Some 65% of people who share this opinion say that Crimea is a historically Russian land, which had been a part of Russia until 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev attached it to Ukraine.

Another 22% say most of the Crimean population is Russian.

Only 7% say that, in fact, Crimea is not Russia, the sociologists said.

VTsIOM polled 1,600 adults in 130 populated areas in 42 districts on March 15-16. The error is less than 3.4%.

Some 96.77% of Crimean voters chose to join the Russian Federation on March 16, 2014. The voter turnout stood at 83.1%.

Two questions wer e put on the Crimean referendum: 1. Do you support Crimea’s reunification with Russia as a constituent territory? (yes or no) and 2. Do you support the reinstatement of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Crimea and Crimea’s status as a part of Ukraine? (yes or no).

After the referendum the Crimean Supreme Council declared the autonomous region a sovereign state, the Republic of Crimea, and requested Russia to admit the republic as its constituent part. The Sevastopol City Council unanimously voted to join Russia as a separate constituent part of the Federation at its special session.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on March 17 to recognize the Republic of Crimea as a sovereign and independent state. A treaty between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea was signed in Moscow on the next day to declare the admission of Crimea to the Russian Federation and the establishment of two new constituent territories within the Russian Fed eration.