RIA Novosti: Russians’ interest in Ukrainian developments on the rise – poll

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, February 26, 2015)

According to the data for February, over a half of the Russian population (51 per cent) follow the developments in Ukraine closely and on a regular basis; this figure has risen since November, when it amounted to 39 per cent of the respondents, the c reports.

At the same time, the number of Russian citizens who do not follow the events in Ukraine has declined since November (from 22 to 13 per cent in February).

As many as 66 per cent of people in Russia discuss the situation in Ukraine with their relatives, but 32 per cent prefer not to do this. The rest of the respondents refused to reply. Forty-five per cent of those who discuss do not have disputes about the situation in Ukraine, while 20 per cent sometimes disagree on this matter.

In April last year, the Ukrainian authorities started military operation in Donbass [southeastern Ukraine] against those people in the region who were dissatisfied with the coup. According to the latest UN data, almost 5,700 civilians fell victim to the conflict.