Hope, respect and love are main feelings that Russians have for their country. But you can also be a patriot if you have double citizenship, work for a foreign company or criticize the politics of the state.

MOSCOW, June 11, 2014. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information describing the feelings that Russians have for Russia, and who they regard as patriots.

Russians have positive emotions about Russia. Twenty-nine percent of respondents express hope; 27% respect the country; 16% love Russia. Every tenth Russian likes Russia (9%) and admires it (8%). Eight percent trust the country; they are opposed by 14% of respondents. Some part of Russians dislikes Russia (11%); eight percent are skeptical about Russia; Seven percent are disappointed about Russia, and six percent hate it. Only 3% of respondents do not care about Russia.

Asked about who is non-patriot, most of respondents (84%) conclude that patriot is someone who does not like Russia. Two-thirds of respondents (68%) say that those who want to leave for another country cannot be called patriots. Sixty-six percent of Russians think that the main manifestation of non-patriotic feelings is avoidance of military service; others think that the true patriot will never give or take bribes (66%) or dodge taxes (63%); 65% of respondents say that the true patriot knows the national symbols of Russia.

Half of respondents think that patriots do not have foreign bank accounts (53%) or work for a non-commercial organization financed from abroad (52%). Fifty-one percent of Russians think that non-patriots refuse to take part in elections (they are opposed by 40% of respondents); 47% of Russians think that someone who expresses an opinion which is opposite to the official position is not a patriot (they are opposed by 44%). Russians have ambiguous attitudes on how to call someone with double citizenship: 48% think that such persons can be called patriots versus 43% of those who oppose them.

According to two-thirds of Russians (62%), the willingness to marry a foreign citizen does not mean that a person does not have patriotic feelings (30% of respondents oppose this point of view). Most of respondents (65%) think that person working or a foreign company can be treated as patriot (they are opposed by 29%).

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on June 7-8, 2014. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. Data are weighted by gender, age, education, working status and type of settlement.  The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.

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!