MOSCOW, September 08./ITAR-TASS/. Protest activity in Russia is at the lowest level in 14 years, a public opinion poll shows.

Russia’s Levada Centre, an independent analytical orgaization, said, referring to its recent poll, that the number of people who were ready to participate in protests decreased in half to 8%.

In September 2001, 17% of respondents, when asked whether they were ready to participate in social protests, answered “sooner yes than no”. In August this year, eight percent answered “yes”, almost twice as low as in June (15%).

When asked whether mass protests were possible in your city or a rural area, 17% answered "possible" and 78% said "unlikely". In September 1999, 28% said "quite possible" and 55% said protests were unlikely.

The number of those who are ready to come out with political demands decreased in the past five years from 13% in August 2009 to seven percent in August this year. The number of people who oppose such protests remain high - 83% at present (75% in August 2009).

The Levada Centre conducted the poll from August 22 to 25, 2014 among 1,600 people in 134 cities and towns in 46 regions of the country. A statistical margin of error of such surveys does not exceed 3.4% The poll results were published on the Levada Centre website.

Meanwhile, opposition activists plan “marches of peace” in Moscow and other Russian cities for September 21.

Opposition activists applied to Moscow authorities on Monday to organize a march of up to 50,000 people on September 21, Sunday, one of the organizers told ITAR-TASS. A Moscow security department official said the proposed route would cross the route of a traditional Moscow marathon that was also planned for September 21. No decision was taken yet, he said, adding “By the way, no 'march of peace' or 'peace' were mentioned in the application. The announced aim was to ‘express a view on violation of human rights and international law norms’." Earlier, RPR-Parnas party co-chairman Boris Nemtsov said that opposition activists planned marches of peace in Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and other cities for September 21.