Russians' optimism about situation in NCFD steps down, sociologists report

In Russia, the number of people, who consider the situation in the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) to be calm and who are confident in its future improvement, has started to decline, while the events in the region happen almost unnoticed by most Russian residents. These are the results of a new public opinion survey, the "Levada Centre" reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the survey conducted in March 2015 recorded a wave of Russians' optimism regarding the situation in Northern Caucasus, and sociologists explained it by the reduction of the number of critical articles about the situation in the region.

According to the new survey conducted on May 22-25, a lot of Russian residents still perceive the situation in Northern Caucasus as calm; however, as compared with March, the number fell by 9%, from 54% down to 45%. Meanwhile, the number of the people, who consider the situation in the region to be tense, increased not so much from 30% up to 33%.

The number of respondents, who are confident that the situation in Northern Caucasus will improve during the next year, has slightly reduced, to 19% as compared with 22% in March.

Like in March, 10% of respondents predict the deterioration of the situation in Northern Caucasus.

In the course of the survey, Russians have mentioned the events of May that appeared to be most resonant for them. The list of those events included only one Caucasian story: the marriage of Nazhud Guchigov, the chief of the ROVD (District Interior Division) of the Nozhai-Yurt District, and a minor girl. Meanwhile, only 3% of respondents mentioned the event as a resonant for them.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.