Russians believe that Snowden wanted to warn people about illegal invasion of privacy and to open their eyes, rather than to tarnish the image of intelligence.
MOSCOW, August 15, 2013. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data concerning how many Russians are aware of Edward Snowden; how they assess his actions; what they think about granting asylum to him.
Two-thirds of Russians know about Edward Snowden (67%): 23% - well informed, 44% - heard something. Those who are most informed are residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg (78%). Thirty-two percent of Russians heard for the first time about Snowden during the poll; they are mainly residents of million cities (40%).
The actions of Snowden who leaked information concerning the wiretapping of political figures and diplomats carried out by the US intelligence service is treated by Russians as a desire to open the eyes of the world community and to warn about privacy invasion (52%). Those who think so are mainly supporters of A Just Russia party (63%). Almost one-third of respondents (26%) tend to think that Snowden`s intentions were to discredit the activities of intelligence agencies: those who think so are basically non-parliament parties` adherents and absentees (34%, for each).
Russians are divided in the opinion on granting asylum to Snowden: 41% support the idea, and 38% oppose. Those who support the idea are mainly Muscovites and St.Petersburgians (49%), and respondents with high level of education (44%). They are opposed by residents of big cities (50%) and Russians with low level of education (49%).
The VCIOM opinion polls were conducted on July 6-7, 2013. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
Have you heard anything about Edward Snowden? (closed-answered question, one answer) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St.Petersburg | Million cities | More than 500 ths | 100 – 500 ths | Less than 100 ths | Rural area |
Yes, I am well aware | 23 | 51 | 7 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 17 |
I heard something | 44 | 27 | 52 | 48 | 42 | 45 | 47 |
I hear for the first time | 32 | 20 | 40 | 30 | 33 | 31 | 36 |
Hard to tell | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Which of the following statements about Edward Snowden is closer to yours? (closed-answered question, one answer) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Supporters of A Just Russia party | Supporters of LDPR | Supporters of CPRF | Supporters of United Russia | Supporters of other parties | I would not take part in elections
|
Snowden wanted to open eyes tothe world community and to warn people about the privacy invasion | 52 | 64 | 53 | 53 | 51 | 40 | 52 |
Snowden wanted to discredit the activities of intelligence agencies, to put them in a bad light, to damage the reputation of the American government | 26 | 17 | 29 | 26 | 27 | 34 | 24 |
Hard to tell | 22 | 19 | 18 | 21 | 22 | 26 | 24 |
It is known that Snowden asked for asylum in Russia. What should the Russian government do? (closed-answered question, one answer) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St.Petersburg | Million cities | More than 500 ths | 100 - 500 ths | Less than 100 ths | Rural area |
Russian government should provide him with the asylum despite deteriorating relationship between Russia and US | 41 | 49 | 29 | 28 | 49 | 43 | 40 |
No asylum should be provided for any reasons | 38 | 26 | 38 | 50 | 35 | 39 | 42 |
Hard to tell | 20 | 26 | 33 | 22 | 16 | 18 | 18 |
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!