MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. Almost half of Russians (49%) believe that the existence of a secret world government is possible, according to a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) published on Tuesday on the organization's website, whereas 67% of respondents expressed such a view in a 2018 poll.

"While in 2018 two-thirds of our fellow citizens (67%) assumed the existence of some secret organization influencing global processes, today every second (49%) believes in this. About the same number of Russians in 2014 believed in the theory of global domination (45%)," the report says.

The pollsters noted that more than one-third (36%) of respondents answered that no secret world government exists. As well, 25% of Russians polled believe that such a world government consists mainly of oligarchs and billionaires. In particular, the surnames of the wealthiest families, including the Rothschilds (3%) and the Rockefellers (2%), figured among the respondents' answers. Another 7% of respondents expressed the view that the world government includes global leaders (without referring to any specific country).

When asked about the main objective of the world government, 23% of Russians named domination and control over the world. In addition, according to one in five (19%), the secret ruling elite has set its sights on vanquishing Russia and exterminating the Russian people. About 15% of respondents expressed the opinion that the goal of the world government is to reduce the population of the planet.

According to the survey, half of those Russians (50%) who express a belief in the existence of a secret world government believe that Russia should fight against it. The view that Russia should work together with the secret world government was expressed by 29% of respondents.

The VCIOM-Sputnik Russia-wide telephone survey was conducted on May 27, 2023. A total of 1,600 Russians over the age of 18 took part in the survey. The margin of sampling error does not exceed 2.5% with a probability of 95%.