MOSCOW, May 29. /ITAR-TASS/. Almost half of Russian citizens think that Russia should regain its status of a superpower, suggests a recent opinion poll by the Russia Public Opinion Research Center (WCIOM).
“About 42% of respondents claim that in the 21st century Russia should regain its status of a superpower, lost after the collapse of the Soviet Union,” sociologists say, adding that the number of respondents wishing that Russia were a superpower had increased from 34% in 2003.
This opinion was most often expressed by senior citizens, people with primary education and supporters of the Russian Communist Party.
“About 41% of those surveyed say the primary objective of our country for this century is to enter the top 10-15 economically developed and politically influential nations of the world,” sociologists say.
About 10% of those polled said Russia should achieve leadership only in the post-Soviet space. Ten years ago, about 16% of respondents supported this view.
WCIOM statistics show that about 82% of citizens are convinced that Russia has a great influence on the international arena. Only 58% of the respondents shared this opinion six years ago.
Every tenth respondent, or 11% of those polled, said that Russia’s impact on the situation in the world was not as big, while about 3% said Russia was almost excluded from participating in international affairs.
The survey was conducted on April 12-13, when 1,600 men and women in 130 towns and cities in 42 Russian regions were interviewed. The margin of error did not exceed 3.4%