MOSCOW, September 1, 2009. Russian Public Opinion Research center (VCIOM) presents the data concerning views of Russians about the contribution of the USSR, the United Kingdom, France, the United States and China to the victory over nazism, and whether this victory could have been possible without the help of the Allies.

Russians are still confident that the USSR would have won World War II without the help of the Allies, however the share of such respondents has been declining since 2001 (from 71 to 63%). They are opposed by those who think that the victory could have not been possible without Allied aid - 23% of respondents. The amount of Russians who are undecided has doubled over the recent years (from 7 to 15%). Those who are confident of the victory of the USSR over fascism without the help of the Allies are generally supporters of such parties as LDPR and Fair Russia (74 and 78% respectively), as well as residents of the Central District of Russia, Siberians (68% for each) and metropolitan residents (69%). They are often opposed by adherents of United Russia party (25%), residents of the Far East of Russia (53%), small cities and rural area (25-26%)

As before, the overwhelming majority of Russians regard the contribution of the Soviet Union to the outcome of the Second World War as basic (87%). The role of the United Kingdom and France is generally considered as minor (36 and 34% respectively) or quite decisive (26 and 22% respectively); as to the U.S., Russians equally express both points of view (30% for each). China did not make any contribution to the victory in WWII - 47% of Russians think.

Over the recent seven years Russians have slightly changed their attitudes about the contribution of certain countries to the victory in WWII. The amount of Russians who think that it was the USSR that played the most important role has fallen from 92% to 87%. The shares of those who think that the following countries did not play any crucial role have also fallen: the UK (from 42 to 36%), China (from 27 to 18%), the US (from 39 to 30%), and France (from 39 to 34%). At the same time, the amount of those who consider the US contribution to the victory over Nazis as very or quite important has increased (from 10 to 14%).

The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on August 22-23, 2009. 

1600 respondents were interviewed at 140 sampling points in 42 regions of Russia.

The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or www.wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM,

the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!