Russians believe in Armed Forces’ ability to defend country in event of military threat – poll

File Photo of Russian Tanks in Military Parade

(Interfax – May 2, 2014) Eighty-six percent of Russian citizens recently interviewed by the All Russian Center for Public Opinion Studies (VTsIOM) believe that Russia’s Armed Forces will be able to defend the country in the event of a real military threat.

The latest survey was conducted in 42 Russian regions and involved 1,600 people.

A total of 66 percent of Russians shared this opinion, according to the results of last year’s poll, VTsIOM sociologists said at a press conference at the Interfax central office.

Seven percent of respondents took the opposite view (21 percent in 2013).

The idea that other counties may pose a potential military threat to Russia was expressed by 52 percent of those polled (37 percent in 2009), and 42 percent voiced the opposite opinion.

According to the center’s sociologists, the assessments of the country’s Armed Forces given by Russians have become more positive recently. Twenty-four percent of respondents spoke positively of the present-day state of Russia’s Armed Forces (16 percent in February 2013).

Among the Armed Forces’ key achievements, respondents mentioned their success in defending Russia’s national interests in Crimea (4.42 points on a 5-point scale), the Armed Forces’ ability to maintain their combat readiness (4.21 points), and a switch to advanced weapons (4.2 points).

However, 54 percent of respondents said that the country’s Armed Forces are not at their best today (46 percent in February 2013), and 16 percent of those polled spoke negatively of the current state of Russia’s Armed Forces.

In addition to that, 47 percent of respondents said they do not want the numerical strength of Russia’s Armed Forces to grow any further, 30 percent took the opposite view, and 10 percent of agreed with those who favor a possible sizeable reduction of the Armed Forces, the sociologists said.

 

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