Most of Russians condemn the demolition of the Lenin monuments in Ukraine; they do not support the idea to demolish such monuments in Russia.
MOSCOW, November 17, 2014. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information describing the attitudes of Russians towards the demolition of the Lenin monuments in Ukraine; what the reasons behind this decision are; whether Russians support the demolition of the Lenin monuments in Russia.
The attitudes of Russians towards the destruction of the Lenin monuments in Ukraine are negative (73%) (87% of CPRF supporters; 84% of respodnents aged over 60). Only 2% of Russians assess positively these actions; 20% are indifferent.
Those who were involved in the demolition of the monuments are called “banderovets” or “fascists” by 16% of Russians. Fifteen percent say that the monuments were demolished because of the anti-Russian moods. Five percent of Russians say that people do that because they have nothing to do or because they are stupid. Other reasons cited by Russians are as follows: “history rewriting” (5%). “not knowing the history” (4%), “hatred towards the Soviet power” (3%) et cet.
Three-quarter of Russians (77%) oppose the idea to destroy the Lenin monuments in Russia. Elderly respondents are more negative about this idea than young Russians (85% of respondents aged over 60 and 68% of respondents aged 18-24). Those who oppose the idea say that these monuments illustrate a definite period of the Russian history (63%). Seven percent of Russians perceive the “leader of the international proletariat” as a great person; 5% are convinced that these monuments do not disturb anyone; their demolition would be pointless (5%) and should be regarded as barberity (3%).
Only 3% of Russians support the idea to demolish the Lenin monuments; they say that no one need these statues (21%), these statues are relics of the past (17%), and that Lenin`s personality is assessed negatively (19%). Sixteen percent of Russians are indifferent.
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on October 25-26, 2014. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 132 communities in 45 regions of Russia. Data are weighted by gender, age, education, working status and type of settlement. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.
What is your attitude toward the demolition of the Lenin monuments in Ukraine? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St. Petersburg | Million cities | More than 500 ths | 100–500 ths | Less than 100 ths | Rural area |
Positively | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
Negatively | 73 | 63 | 77 | 84 | 64 | 79 | 73 |
Indifferent | 20 | 26 | 18 | 13 | 25 | 16 | 22 |
Don`t know | 5 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
In your opinion, why do certain residents of Ukraine demolish/support the demolition of Lenin monuments? (open-ended question, any number of answers) | |
| Total respondents |
They are “banderovets”, fascists | 16 |
Anti-Russian moods | 15 |
They have nothing to do; they do stupid things | 5 |
They try to rewrite the history | 5 |
They were brought up that way; they do not know their history | 4 |
They hate communism and the Soviet power | 3 |
Influence of the West and the U.S.A. | 3 |
Vandals | 2 |
Due to political ideas, politics of new authorities | 2 |
I do not care; it is their problem | 2 |
Due to civil war | 1 |
Due to negative information/disinformation about Russia in local mass media | 1 |
They do not like them; they do not want them any more | 1 |
It is just an exasperated crowd | 1 |
Other | 3 |
Don`t know | 39 |
What is your attitude towards the idea to demolish the Lenin monuments in Russia? (closed-ended question, one answer) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over |
Positively | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Negatively | 77 | 68 | 71 | 77 | 78 | 85 |
Indifferent | 16 | 27 | 21 | 16 | 14 | 9 |
Don`t know | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
If you DO NOT support the idea to demolish the Lenin monuments, can you tell us why? (open-ended question, not more than 3 answers, % of those who DO NOT support the idea to demolish the Lenin monuments) | |
| Total respondents |
They represent a period of the Russian history | 63 |
Lenin was a great figure of his time | 7 |
It is pointless | 5 |
They do not disturb anyone | 5 |
Vandalism, barbarity | 3 |
They are architectural and cultural landmarks | 2 |
Thos who could demolish these monuments should be those who set up them | 1 |
Unreasonable waste of budget money | 1 |
Other | 2 |
Don`t know | 16 |
If you support the idea to demolish the Lenin monuments, can you tell us why? (open-ended question, not more than 3 answers, % of those who support the idea to demolish the Lenin monuments) | |
| Total respondents |
No one needs them | 21 |
Lenin was awful | 19 |
They are relics of the past; we should forget about them | 17 |
Lenin did nothing good for Russia | 9 |
There are too many of them | 6 |
They do not symbolize anything | 2 |
They are not beautiful | 2 |
Other | 2 |
Don`t know | 26 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!