MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. More than half of Russians (63%) closely or occasionally follow the US presidential election campaign, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) published on the organization’s website.

"This November, the US will hold its presidential election. <...> Although the election is still a ways away, more than half of Russians - 63% - are following the election campaign on the other side of the ocean. One in ten (12%) people follow the election campaign closely, and just over half (51%) are occasional observers," the report says.

According to the survey, exactly half (50%) of those polled think that who wins the US election does not matter for Russia. Meanwhile, four out of ten respondents (42%) said they would vote for Donald Trump if given the chance. One-third of respondents (30%) believe that Trump winning would be the best scenario for Russia.

According to the poll, most Russians (89%) know about the assassination attempt on Trump, while 46% are well-informed about the incident. A quarter of respondents (24%) believe that Joe Biden, his supporters or the Democratic Party was behind the assassination attempt. "[Almost one in ten], 9%, subscribe to the idea that Donald Trump himself staged the assassination attempt, a scenario gaining steam on social media and the Internet. Another 4% of respondents believe that the assassination attempt could have been organized by US intelligence services or a mentally unwell person. Another 3% linked the attempted assassination with those who were displeased with his policies. Other options include Trump's entourage, Ukraine, some other Americans, or someone else entirely (2% each). Almost half of Russians chose not to speculate on this matter (48%)," the pollster notes.

The all-Russian telephone survey VCIOM-Sputnik was conducted on July 18, 2024 among 1,600 Russians over the age of 18. Figures were weighted by socio-demographic variables. The maximum margin of error, with a probability of 95%, doesn’t exceed 2.5%.