MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. Eighty-six percent of Russians polled by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center said their country’s influence in international affairs is extensive.

"The estimates of Russia’s position on the world stage have grown significantly. In 2016, 75% of Russians said that our country’s influence on international affairs was great, while in 2017 their number grew to 86% [which is a maximum figure over the years]," the pollster said. Meanwhile, the amount of skeptics has almost halved, sinking from 18% to 10%.

"Over three past years, the hope that the country will acquire the status of a great power has transformed into certainty that it already is," the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center said. While in 2014, 54% of those polled said that Russia will be one of the world’s leading states in the near future, today 57% of Russians believe that it is already one of them. Presently, about one-third of Russians (31%) say this will happen within the next several decades, and 10% disagree with this.

The sense of a military threat has been gradually on decline, with more than half of the respondents saying that there is no threat of military attack on our country. Those who feel such a threat (42%) consider the US and Ukraine the potential sources of aggression.

"Russians’ self-esteem continues to increase. This stems primarily from Russia’s active role and importance as a global political player. The poll registered a record high share of respondents who believe that our country has already acquired the status of a great power or will do so quite soon," the pollster’s Director General, Valery Fyodorov, said.

The poll was conducted on March 2-3, 2017, with 1,200 Russians aged 18 and over taking part in it. The maximum range of error does not exceed 3.5%.