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Kremlin spokesman points to number of Russians not interested in emigrating

Dmitry Peskov shares his view on immigration
Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov  Vitaliy Nevar/TASS
Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov
© Vitaliy Nevar/TASS

MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Opinion poll data on immigration moods in Russia are rather abstract and cannot be interpreted as indicating that a big number of Russians want to leave the country, Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

Commenting on the poll results released by Levada Center, an independent pollster, that demonstrate that as many as 41% of Russians aged from 18 to 24 want to move abroad, Peskov noted, "I wouldn’t call it a big figure."

According to the Kremlin spokesman, the mere wording of the question "is rather abstract", and these figures should not be interpreted out of context.

"Just look at the poll results: the overwhelming majority of people said they are not ready or are unwilling to move anywhere from Russia. So, it is all relative," he stressed.

The poll was conducted by Levada Center in December 2018 and its results were published in the press on Monday. Thus, seventeen percent of the polled said they want to move abroad (‘definitely yes,’ or ‘rather yes’). Notably, there were 41% of such respondents among young people aged up to 24. Nevertheless, as many as 61% of respondents gave a ‘definitely no’ answer to that question, a record-breaking figure in the past several years.