Moscow - Kyiv, July 18 (Navigator, Mikhail Stamm) - The vast majority of Russians consider the militias of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics to be ordinary residents who are defending themselves from the Kyiv authorities, data from VTsIOM shows.
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79% of Russians consider militias to be ordinary residents, according to a poll conducted by VTsIOM on July 12-13. Exactly the same number of respondents are confident that the militias are fighting for the rights of Russian-speaking people in Ukraine and protecting the residents of Donbass from the Kyiv authorities. The ideas of the militias are shared by the majority of local residents, the same 79% of respondents answer. The most common feelings that Russians feel towards the militias are respect (39%), hope (22%), sympathy (19%), admiration (11%) and trust (10%; when answering the question, you could choose up to two options ).
The coincidence of the numbers is accidental, but this is really the dominant point of view, Stepan Lvov, head of the department of socio-political research at VTsIOM, told RBC Daily.
At the same time, the point of view that the militias protect the residents of Donbass from the Kyiv authorities is even more widespread in large cities than in the country as a whole - 86%, he points out. According to Lvov, this shows that such beliefs prevail even on the Internet and social networks, where residents of cities with a population of over a million are increasingly getting information from. In addition, they pay more attention to events in Ukraine.
Only every fifth respondent is sure that militias are mercenaries working for money; only 14% believe that militias pursue some personal interests. This point of view is most common among respondents who disapprove of the president’s work, Lvov says. Among the negative feelings towards the militias, indifference (7%), fear (5%), disappointment, mistrust and condemnation (4% each) prevail.