MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. About 60% of Russians polled are interested in the US presidential election, with 40% of them sympathizing with Republican candidate Donald Trump, according to a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) among 1,600 adult Russians.

"We tried to find out what Russians think about the upcoming US presidential election. The declared interest is quite high: about 60% of respondents said that they are interested in these elections and are following their course," Mikhail Mamonov, head of the VCIOM political research department, said.

According to him, this is a high number and it has increased in comparison with previous election campaigns. If in 2004 only 36% of Russians followed the US presidential election, and in 2016 this figure rose to 41%, now there are many more. The expert cited several reasons for the increased interest of Russians in the American elections: the current international situation and Russia's dependence on it, the format of the elections, the process of their theatricalization, and the changing role of the United States in the international arena.

The pollsters also found out which of the candidates Russians sympathize with. According to the survey, 40% of respondents said that they like Donald Trump more, while only 8% of those polled prefer his opponent Kamala Harris. "We can say that the indicator is quite high. If we talk about dynamics, Trump's support has grown: in August, about 37% of Russians declared sympathy for this US presidential candidate," Mamonov said.

As for the legitimacy of the US elections, the majority of respondents believe that they are being held unfairly, with serious violations. "It is about the electoral situation in general. A total of 52% of respondents said that the elections are unfair, while 21% said that this is not true, which is 2.5 times less. Thus, we can say that in the eyes of Russians, the American election is a process of questionable quality," Mamonov said.

He pointed out that these figures strongly contradict the results of polls on the Russian presidential election. "Regarding the 2024 Russian election, 79% of respondents said that the elections were fair, while 11% did not support this point of view," Mamonov said. According to him, among those who took part in the Russian presidential elections, the legitimacy indicator is higher: 84%.