Russians believe that Donbass should be supported, but the Russian government should not spend too much money on that.

MOSCOW, February 9, 2016. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the results of the survey describing the situation in Donbass; what position Russia should take towards Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics.

In general, Russians think that situation in Donbass is not changing much (45%). Twenty-two percent mark improvements; most of them keep up with the Ukrainian developments regularly (31%). They are opposed by 14% who mention tensions and deterioration of the situation.

According to Russians, sending the humanitarian aid to the Donbass residents is not so important any more: the share of those who believe that Russian authorities should send humanitarian convoy has been steadily decreasing since September 2014 (from 78%). In January 2016, this share made up 64%; those who share this opinion are mainly men (72%) and retired persons (71%). At the same time, the number of those who oppose the idea to send humanitarian aid to Donbass is growing (from 15% to 27%, respectively).

Russians are divided in their opinions on what position toward Ukraine Russian authorities should take, however favorable attitudes towards Ukraine and desire to help prevail over the willingness of Russians to cut themselves off from the problems that the Donbass inhabitants are facing today. Twenty-three percent of respondents think it is necessary to help residents of DPR and LPR get autonomous status as a part of Ukraine; 22% consider that LPR and DPR should be recognized as sovereign states. Every fifth (21%) supports the idea to incorporate these republics into Russia’s territory. And finally, 17% opt for non-intervention and cutting relations with the LPR and DPR governments.

The Medialogia analysis suggests that DPR and LPR were mentioned more than 515 thousand times in the Russian media. The peak in mentions was recorded in February 2015. Representatives of Kyev, DPR and LPR as well as mediators from Russia and OSCE held hours-long talks aiming at elaborating a new plan for resolving the Ukrainian crisis and ceasing the fire in Donbass. In February, media also reported on the withdrawal of heavy armament from the contact line.

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on January 23-24, 2016. A total of 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 settlements in 46 regions and republics of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%. Russian media monitoring and analysis were carried out by the Medialogia Company using approximately 30 200 sources such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines. Period of study: January-December 2015

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