Interfax: Almost 80% of Russians see solution for terrorism in liquidating terrorists – poll

MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax) – A total of 78% of Russian citizens think that the issues of terrorism should be resolved solely by liquidating terrorists, the All-Russia Public Opinion Research center (VTsIOM) said, citing a poll held in January.

In 2002, 70% of respondents shared this stance.

Only 15% of Russians think that it is necessary to negotiate with terrorists, sociologists said.

When asked whether the terrorist attacks in Volgograd could have been prevented, 45% said yes, while 44% believe that it was impossible to avoid the bombings and that generally it is impossible to protect yourself from terrorism and 49% shared this stance following the bus explosion in Volgograd in October 2013, the survey showed.

According to the information of VTsIOM, 51% of Moscow and St. Petersburg residents are certain that the Volgograd bombings could have been prevented, while 53% of villagers think the opposite.

Sixty-three percent of Russians doubt the ability of the authorities to protect the country from terrorist attacks, while 29% expressed the opposite point of view, the survey showed.

Following the explosions in the Moscow metro in March 2010 and the seizure of a school in Beslan in September 2004, 36% and 28% respondents respectively said they were certain of the authorities’ ability to protect Russia.

The poll was held on January 11-12 and involved 1,600 respondents in 130 Russian cities, towns and villages in 42 Russian regions.

Several terrorist attacks occurred in Volgograd in the past several months. A female suicide bomber set off a bomb on a bus on October 21, 2013, which killed seven people and the bomber. On December 29, a suicide bomber set off an explosive device at the entrance to the Volgograd railway station and on December 30 a terrorist detonated a bomb on a trolleybus with passengers. The two bombings claimed 34 lives.