INDEPENDENT RESEARCH AGENCY

Central Asia supports Russia

Started in winter, Ukrainian political crisis grew into a real civil war. Fights with usage of air forces and armor burst out in the East of the country. All Russian mass media, as well as the majority of European ones, keep their eye on the situation in Donetsk and Lugansk Regions. Tragic news from these areas worries the citizens of Russia and the former USSR countries, bound by political and economic unions (Eurasian Economic Community (EaEU), Customs Union, Collective Security Treaty Organization).

Independent research agency “Bashkirova & Partners Ltd.” continues to study attitude of Russians and citizens of the former USSR countries toward the events in Ukraine. Today’s research aims to find out how people in Russia and some countries of CSTO see the policies of conflicting sides.

 

The overwhelming majority of respondents (89%) in Russia approves of the policy of their government in Ukraine. Only 9% of respondents are in sympathy with Ukrainian authorities, 11% agree with the policy that the EU carries out, while Russians are in favor of the USA’s actions the least.

Russians’ unanimity with their government concerning the crisis can be explained by several factors: historically close bounds between Eastern Ukraine and Russia, the influence of Russian mass-media, having strong pro-governmental position and certainly, some Ukrainian politics’ anti-Russian rhetoric.

The whole world is watching the development of the events. Taking into consideration the growing power of the Russian Federation and president Putin in the world, it seems interesting to compare citizens of neighboring countries’ attitude towards the actions of the conflicting sides.

The survey conducted in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan (end of May, 2014) showed that the majority of the population of these countries approves of Russia’s policy on Ukrainian crisis. The strongest support feels in Kazakhstan, where 3.7 million Russians live.

Citizens of Kyrgyzstan feel sympathy towards Ukraine’s policy the most. Notable, that the country has gone through two important crises (the Tulip Revolution in 2005, the Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010), which led to coupe d’etat. The support of Ukrainian government in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan is as small as in Russia.

In light of recent events when the Presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus signed the pact on  Eurasian Economic Union and the heads of other states claimed their wish for joining it as soon as possible, the information about how Russia’s closest partners see its policy is particularly relevant. Based on the results of the survey, the conclusion is that the citizens from near abroad share the Russian Federation’s position on Ukrainian crisis.

  

The survey was conducted in May, 2014 on national random route sample of Russian citizens (18+). Personal interviews were held domiciliary with1500 of respondents in 8 federal districts, 100 settlements, in 200 sampling points. Sampling error ±2.5%.

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