Nearly Half of Russians Fear Terrorist Attack – Poll

November 13, 2015 JRL Russia List Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Terrorism

Ukraine Air Crash Scene with Uniformed Security Personnel, Flames, Smoke

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 13, 2015)

Nearly half of Russians fear a terrorist attack or hostage-taking situation in the near future, the Interfax news agency reported, citing data from independent pollster the Levada Center.

Of the 48 percent who fear an attack, 76 percent consider terrorist group the Islamic State as the greatest threat, Interfax reported Friday.

International terrorism as a whole worried 39 percent of Russians polled, while 17 percent were concerned by Russian extremists and radicals. One-third (34 percent) of respondents did not believe in the possibility of a terrorist attack.

The poll was conducted on Oct. 23-26 among 1,600 people in 134 cities and towns around Russia, Interfax reported. No margin of error was given.

The Islamic State terrorist group released an Internet video promising to attack Russia “very soon,” the SITE monitoring group reported on Thursday.

The Islamic State has previously called for Islamic fighters to take revenge on Russia after President Vladimir Putin launched an air strike campaign in Syria against Islamic State militants and opposition forces fighting against Syrian President Bashar Assad.