The attitudes of Russians towards the U.S. and western countries have sharply deteriorated over the recent year. According to Russians, the terrorist attacks in France were caused by the blasphemous behavior of the journalists and misbegotten policies of the French government. Most of Russians still support the “Dima Yakovlev law” adopted two years ago.

MOSCOW, January 28, 2015. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the results of the survey devoted to the following topics: who Russians regard as friends and enemies; how they assess the recent terrorist attacks in France and publication of the cartoons depicting religious figures; whether Russians supported the adoption of the Dima Yakovlev law, and how they assess its effectiveness.

“Friends” and “enemies” of Russia: time of sanctions

Asked  without prompting about the countries that can be treated as friendly towards Russia, half of Russians mention China (51%); the share of those who think so has doubled compared to 2008 (23% in 2008). Top three most friendly countries involve Belarus (32%) and Kazakhstan (20%); now much more Russians cite these countries compared to 2008 (14% and 8%, respectively). Only 2% of Russians perceive Germany as Russia’s friend (17% in 2008).

The United States is regarded to be the most hostile country; one quarter of Russians mentioned the U.S. six years ago (25% in 2008) compared to three quarter now (73% in 2014). The share of those who see hostility between Russia and Ukraine has dramatically increased (from 21% to 32%). Russians also perceive England (9%), Poland (6%), Canada (3%), and France (3%) as hostile countries.

Prophet Muhammad cartoons and terrorist attacks in France

Seventy-four percent of Russians are aware of what happened in the offices of the French weekly newspaper «Charlie Hebdo» on January 7^th. Twenty-three percent of Russians have seen the Prophet Muhammad cartoons; 51% heard about what happened but did not see the cartoons.  

The major reasons behind the Charlie Hebdo attack are insulting Muslim religious feelings (30%) and soft mass media policies of the French authorities that allow them insulting the believers (25%). Eleven percent of Russians oppose them stating that the main cause is that the French authorities allow immigrants to enter the country, and this creates a huge flow of immigrants. Eight percent believe that the tragedy happened because of the cruelty of the Muslim extremists; 6% mention poor work of the French police and security services.

Most of Russians who are informed about the terrorist attack happened in France (85%) dissapprove of the idea to publish cartoons depicting religious fidures such as Muhammad, Jesus, Buddha et cet. Two-thirds (62%) think it is unappropriate, and 23% believe that it deserves moral condemnation. Only 6% admit that the freedom of speeah allows the media to release similar materials.

Russians are divided in their opinions on what position Russian media should take regarding the publication of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons in the French newspaper. One-third of them (36%) think that Russian media should stay neutral. Another one-third (31%) condemn the behavior of the journalists. Fifteen percent of Russians agree with foreign counterparts; however, only 3% say that the cartoons should be reprinted by Russian media.

Eighty-nine percent of Russians are confident that no law should be introduced to legalize the publication of cartoons devoted to religious topics and insulting religious feelings. They are opposed by 4% (11% of them disapprove of the work of the Russian president; 10% are CPRF supporters).

 “Dima Yakovlev law”: two years later

The share of Russians who are aware of the “Dima Yakovlev law” two years since its adoption (the law bans the adoption of Russian children by residents of certain countries) has declined: whereas in 2013 the share was 85%, today this share makes up 67%. Simultaneously, the number of those who approved of this law has increased from 54% in 2013 to 70% in 2015. Currently only 14% of Russians disagree with this law (37% of non-parliament parties` supporters, and 28% of A Just Russia party supporters).

Half of Russians (53%) still believe that Russian orphans are those who benefit from this law. Those who think so say that children born in Russia should stay in Russia (28%). Every fifth (19%) considers that this ban helps protect Russian kids. The share of Russians who mention child abuse incidents committed by American citizens has decreased from 27% in 2014 to 16% in 2015.

Only 15% of respondents believe that these measures have had a bad impact on Russian orphans. Half of those who share this stance (49%) fail to precise why they think so. Those who define precisely their position say that fewer children will be able to find a family. Others reason that children could have better living conditions abroad (12%), and that violent incidents occur anywhere in the world (9%) et cet.

Seventy percent of respondents support the law banning the adoption of Russian children by residents of certain countries. Only 11% would cancel this law (22% of those who approve of the work of the president; 20% of supporters of LDPR and 20% supporters of non-parliament parties).

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted in 2006-2015. Each survey involved 1600 respondents interviewed in 132 communities in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3,5%.

*In 2006, the question was asked after the Danish newspaper published the Prophet Muhammad cartoons resulted in mass protests in Muslim countries

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!